5 ways the St. Louis Cardinals have proven they've learned from past mistakes in 2024

The St. Louis Cardinals have rightfully been criticized for a lot of mistakes over the last few years, and many of those mistakes culminated in their disaster of a season in 2023. While we could write a whole different story on the mistakes they continue to make as an organization, I think there are multiple areas where the club has made important shifts.

A team does not go from one of the worst teams in baseball to a legit playoff contender in one offseason without improving in a lot of areas, especially when so many of their key position players have been disappointing this year. But what exactly are the areas they've actually "learned" from their mistakes that could be an encouraging sign for the future?

Here are five shifts I've seen from the Cardinals this year that show me they have learned from past mistakes.

Learning #1 - Prioritizing defense once again

The Cardinals' 2023 Opening Day Roster featured a major downgrade defensively at catcher from Yadier Molina to Willson Contreras, Nolan Gorman still learning how to play second base adequately, Jordan Walker's awful defense in right field, and Tyler O'Neill trying to prove he could play center field.

Not exactly a defensive alignment that inspires much confidence.

While the pitching was far and away the biggest issue last year, the Cardinals' defense time and time again let the team down in big ways and they could not afford to have that happen again this year.

In 2024, the Cardinals have run with Michael Siani almost every day in center field despite his below-league-average bat. Even before Masyn Winn broke out offensively this year, the team came into the year committed to him at shortstop to get better defense there. They worked with Willson Contreras a ton this offseason to improve his play behind the plate, and Pedro Pages has supplanted Ivan Herrera as their backup catcher with his stellar defense.

Even while the offense has struggled mightily at times, the Cardinals have remained steadfast in putting their best defense out on the field as often as possible. And that is vitally important to a pitching staff that needs a good defense behind them.

Defense matters in today's game. It feels like any time a team makes a mistake in the field, it comes back to bite them. Not only do the Cardinals mostly avoid that now, but they also have players all over the field who can save runs as well. This defense is much better than last year's and is a big reason why the club is so much better this year.