3 good and 2 bad lessons from the Cardinals' 2023 struggles

The Good: Focus on the Youth

The Cardinals have been great at developing major-league talent in the past ten years. It's been one of the reasons the team has been able to compete each year for a playoff spot despite having their first draft pick in the 20s each year. The minor league system and Randy Flores are excellent at identifying and developing young players.

Due to this fact, the major league roster can be supplanted with ready-to-go young players who can hold their own on the big stage. Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, and Lars Nootbaar are all in the top seven in WAR totals on the team and not one of them is older than 26 years old. Ivan Herrera also saw some time in the majors and played well given his age and track record. This spells a strong future for the team.

The team needs to lean more into this youth movement with other players such as Masyn Winn, Michael McGreavy, Ivan Herrera, and Gordon Graceffo next year. Injecting youth will help keep the clubhouse light and will bring athleticism that the team seems to be missing this year.

Players such as Corbin Carroll, Eury Perez, Gunnar Henderson, Hunter Brown, Anthony Volpe, and Francisco Alvarez were called up this year at a young age. Each player is providing a huge spark for their teams. The Cardinals should mirror that next year with their rising shortstop star and their fine starting pitching prospects.