3 changes we'd already make to the 2023 St. Louis Cardinals

Dylan Carlson should be the starting center fielder with Tyler O'Neill moving to a corner spot.

The start of Carlson's career has seemed to be surrounded by much more potential than follow-through, but he's going to get another shot in 2023 to establish himself as the player everyone knows he can turn into.

The switch-hitting outfielder's primary position is certainly center field, but the Cardinals have seemingly handed over those reigns to Tyler O'Neill, who has no business playing there every day. O'Neill is an immensely talented player, but he is and always has been much more suited for a corner outfield spot.

Allowing Carlson to take over in center would give him the confidence he may need from manager Oli Marmol, and perhaps he would finally begin to blossom at the big league level. In parts of four seasons, he has a combined 104 OPS+, so he hasn't been bad at the plate; he could just use a boost to get back to his 2021 season when he hit 18 home runs with 65 RBI.

It doesn't hurt that Carlson, 24, is also a much better defender than O'Neill is. He's been worth 0.2 Defensive Wins Above Replacement already in just seven games, while O'Neill is at -0.2. It's a very small sample size, but it does say a lot about how each player ranks in center. Especially with the universal designated hitter still around, there's going to be playing time for both of these young men, but Carlson should be the one in center.

Give Brendan Donovan more time at shortstop

After bursting onto the scene in a big way last year, Brendan Donovan, 26, is expected to play an important role on this club in 2023 and beyond. He emerged seemingly out of nowhere last year with a 126 OPS+ in 126 games and also 1.0 Defensive Wins Above Replacement as well; filling in all over the diamond at an above-average rate.

Donovan got the majority of his playing time last year at second base (38) games, and while he plays that position well, perhaps he could start to play a bit more at shortstop to give Tommy Edman some time to right himself?

Edman, another super-utility type the Cardinals know and love, started off a bit slow this season but has begun to turn it around as of late. Through 11 games, he has a home run and a .289 average with an OPS+ of 111. He, like Donovan, can bounce around and play anywhere, but he's been tied to shortstop exclusively to start the season.

Plugging Donovan in at short, notoriously one of, if not the, most physically demanding and difficult positions to play on the field, would give Edman some much-needed time off of his feet. They're both young players, but allowing the sophomore to spread his proverbial wings a bit and take some of the full-time duties there off of Edman's shoulders could wind up being beneficial for all involved.

Donovan has made just one appearance at short this year, but he had a .967 fielding percentage last year in 56 innings at the position. This is not a plan to take Edman out of the lineup, but instead to allow an equally-versatile player to get some time at short as well to take the burden off of the veteran's shoulders.

Keep Jordan Hicks far away from high-leverage situations.

It's been a surprisingly long time since Cardinals fans got to see Hicks at his best. One look at his numbers from the past few years (including the start of this year) and you'd see he hasn't been remotely successful since 2019 when his ERA+ was at 135.

The Cardinals have tried him out in all sorts of different roles and as of late, nothing has stuck. With the right-hander at full health to start 2023, the Cards have been giving him a shot at some high-leverage innings. This is not a crazy development as he has 20 saves in his career, but his performance so far warrants this: Jordan Hicks should not be used in high-leverage situations.

In his first five appearances, the flamethrower has a 10.80 ERA (six earned runs on eight hits), has walked (six) more than he's struck out (five), and has a whopping three wild pitches already. The Cards have plenty of other arms in the bullpen that could take his place as a "stopper" on the pitching staff.

One name that pops out is intriguing youngster Zack Thompson, who has yet to allow an earned run this year. He came up as a starting pitcher and is still young, so there's still plenty of time for him to establish himself as a starter eventually, but he's excelled in the bullpen to start his big league career.