3 Cardinals who are playing themselves off the 2024 roster

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I tend to be an optimist when it comes to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Don't get me wrong, I get frustrated by the same things that bug anyone else who watches this club, but I tend to see, and believe, in the potential that the team has, especially this year. For as bad as the pitching has been this year, I am still dumbfounded as to how the club has found itself in the position they are in right now.

Still, I see brighter days ahead for this team. While 2023 has been the most disappointing season I can remember for this organization, I believe they'll rebound in a big way in 2024. I ran a poll on my Twitter recently seeing how others felt, and was surprised at how close the poll came out to be.

Do you believe the #STLCards will get back to being a playoff team in 2024?
— Joshua Jacobs (@joshjacoMLB) August 10, 2023

I get it though, the Cardinals tend to be incremental changes to their team, and that will not fly this offseason. They need major changes to the club to get back to being a contender in the National League, and I truly believe those are coming. I would be shocked if the Cardinals do not acquire at least one front-end starter before the 2024 season, and I actually expect more than just one major pitching acquisition to happen.

Outside of adding pitching to this team, the club is going to need to part with various players who just are not contributing to the success of this team currently. For one reason or another, these three players have been disappointing for St. Louis in 2023, and I just cannot imagine they are still with the club when Spring Training rolls around.

Here are three Cardinals who are playing themselves off the roster

Tyler O'Neill

I've been the king of the Tyler O'Neill fan club since the day he was traded for by the Cardinals. I even recently wrote a story about how I thought O'Neill had slugged his way back into the Cardinals' plans for the 2024 season. Not as some super reliable outfielder, but that his upside was too great to trade away if it wasn't for good value, and they were better served to have him as a fourth outfielder who could emerge as a key contributor for them.

And then the situation in Tampa Bay happened.

It's beyond frustrating at this point. It feels like any time O'Neill gets some momentum going for himself, he finds a way to kill it. I don't get frustrated at the injuries he's experienced that have forced him into the IL time and time again, but situations like the one in Tampa, where he just wasn't confident in how his knee would react to the turf in Tampa, are the ones that I just think have ended the future that O'Neill could have had in St. Louis.

I imagine the Cardinals will still try to play him often for the rest of the season, hoping to build his trade value up some so they can at least get something in return for him this offseason. But with Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar, and Alec Burleson clearly being the club's top three outfielders, I do not see them wanting to run back the O'Neill experiment anymore.

It's really a shame. When O'Neill is right, he can be the best player on the field for a team that has two superstars in Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. His power, speed, and defense make him one of the most talented players in all of baseball. But he just cannot get out of his own way, and I hope for O'Neill that he is able to get his career back on track here soon. I just do not see the Cardinals being the team he does that for anymore.

Dylan Carlson

Speaking of outfielders that just cannot produce in the ways that the Cardinals have been hoping for, Dylan Carlson was dealt a tough hand this season, being relegated to a fourth or even fifth outfielder for the team at times, getting very inconsistent playing time, and clearly falling out of favor with the club after being their "center fielder of the future" as of last July.

I get the argument that his playing time has been unfair and detrimental to his development. I also understand that Carlson is still a young player with tons of potential. But at some point, even in the few opportunities he has gotten, Carlson has to start showing he's a better player than the results have been this season.

Sometimes I feel like different people act as though the moment Carlon gets to start every day, he's going to blossom into a borderline All-Star level outfielder. Sure, maybe that happens, but it's hard to explain why the Cardinals should play him more when he is batting .219/.318/.333 with 5 HR and 27 RBI in his 219 plate appearances this season.

Carlson's calling card at the plate has been his ability to his left-handed pitching at an elite level, but he is now down to a .770 OPS against southpaws. That's pretty good, but not the special trait it has been for him. Against right-handed pitchers, he's basically unplayable with a .196/.288/.304 slash line.

Carlson is a good defender, but he's not a great one either. He is at his best in the corner outfield spots, and although he makes some great plays in center field, he just isn't a good enough defender out there to overlook how bad his bat has been.

I really hope, and still believe, there is more to Carlson's ability than he has shown in the last two years. But considering the Cardinals have passed over him so many times this season, and shopped him at the deadline, I'm guessing we'll see him dealt this offseason.

Andre Pallante

One of the biggest surprises of the 2022 season for St. Louis, Andre Pallante became the club's Swiss army knife, starting some games, being a long relief man in others, and eventually setting into a high-leverage, groundball specialist for the club. He posted a 3.17 ERA in 108 innings for the Cardinals and was expected to be a key contributor this season.

It just has not worked out like that in 2023.

Pallante has pitched 45 innings for St. Louis with a 4.60 ERA. There is an arguement that Pallante has been getting unlucky this year, as his strikeouts per nine and groundball percentage are actually both up this year, and both his xERA and xFIP are right in line with what they were last year. Unfortunately, he's been bitten by the home run ball this year, seeing his HR/FB rate increase from 15.3% to 26.7%.

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Do I think Pallante is going to be gone from the Cardinals' organization next year? No. He will still be in the mix for a bullpen spot next season. But with so many arms vying for spots currently, and the Cardinals likely adding a few more to the mix this offseason, it will be very difficult for Pallante to maintain his spot if he does not improve his play down the stretch.

Check out my weekly podcast "Redbird Rundown" on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts as well as follow me on Twitter @joshjacoMLB for more Cardinals content

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