5 terrible trends the Cardinals must leave behind in 2023

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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.

4. Miscommunication

As frustrations mounted, the trend of publicly criticizing players became Marmol's go-to tactic. Starting with a perceived lack of hustle from Tyler O'Neill to Contreras not being exactly like Molina in his preparation, it was something new every couple of weeks for Marmol and Mozeliak.

It was cringe-worthy and entirely unprofessional to handle in such a public way. Issues like this in a typical work environment are handled one-on-one or even with an intervention from a mentoring teammate. It showed that the team didn't have a vocal leader like Molina or Albert Pujols. The players you would expect that leadership from, like Paul Goldschmidt or Nolan Arenado, were battling through their issues at the plate. The presence of Molina and Descalso paired with Gray and Lynn as well as Goldschmidt and Arenado returning to heath, should show some improvements in this department.

3. Inconsistency at the plate

When Goldschmidt and Arenado have terrible seasons at the plate, and the rest of the team follows suit, it is a terrible combination. Each player did have stretches of finding some consistency at the plate, but nothing was sustained, and players were looking lost.

According to social media postings, several of the team's hitters have gone to training locations such as Driveline to work on hitting techniques to try to unlock their issues. It will be interesting to see how they return to action in the spring.

2. Fielding mishaps

There will be some trouble when several fielders are essentially playing outside their normal position. When you add injuries and the desire to try something different to the mix, it can lead to further frustrations.

It was a season filled with these frustrations. With healthy versions of Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar, and Brendan Donovan returning in the Spring, along with another season under the belt for Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn, along with improved seasons for Tommy Edman, Goldschmidt, and Arenado, things should look better in the field. Having Descalso and Molina around should help as well.

1. Losing 91 games

Finishing in last place with 91 losses is just unacceptable baseball. Cardinals fans tolerated seeing this for a glimpse at their beloved team in an exhausting summer. They wanted to see the final games of Adam Wainwright's career as a Cardinal.

There should be a short leash for several if there isn't a stark improvement over last season. It would be best to leave 2023's bad vibes in 2023. The team must come to camp in 2024 with a renewed focus on playing at the level baseball fans have enjoyed over the years. Winning baseball must return to St. Louis.

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