5 terrible trends the St. Louis Cardinals must leave behind in 2023

Except for some on social media, no one could have predicted the disastrous season the St. Louis Cardinals would have in 2023. The Cardinals ended the season with a 71-91 record. This was the worst the organization had seen since the early 1990s.

The team developed many terrible habits in 2023, from the front office to the field. It was a bad look all around. With very few exceptions, the Cardinals will have much of the same team back. It will be great to have Daniel Descalso in the dugout next to manager Oli Marmol. Descalso will be an excellent bench coach. He was one of the scrappiest players to ever wear a Cardinals uniform. It will be helpful to have that mentality back in the dugout.

Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson are needed additions to the starting rotation. It would be great to see another starting arm and some high-leverage options for relief. The Cardinals have several weeks to see what is available before heading to Jupiter, Fla., for Spring Training.

With 2024 upon us, let's look at some nasty trends the Cardinals need to keep in 2023 to have a Happy 2024.

5. Inconsistency on the mound

Having a brand new pitching coach in Dusty Blake, whose only Major League experience was in the Cardinals' analytics department, brought its growing pains. Pair that with the retirement of Yadier Molina and the presence of a different catcher in Willson Contreras. The pitching staff was bound to struggle to adapt to these changes. But it should not have been as big a struggle as it became.

With the retirement of Adam Wainwright and the departures of Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery, Cardinals' president of baseball operations, John Mozeliak, promised to concentrate on "pitching, pitching, pitching" to build for the future. He was able to sign Gray, Lynn, and Gibson. Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz will be the primary returnees, with the promise of seeing Matthew Liberatore and Zach Thompson. The Cardinals got some promising young arms in their trades for Flaherty, Montgomery, Paul DeJong, and Jordan Hicks.

With the hope of more to come and a solid Spring Training, along with Blake having a year of experience plus the addition of Yadier Molina as a special assistant to the organization to help with Contreras and the pitching staff, fans should see some improvements.