9 Cardinals who have been on fire the first month of the 2024 season, 9 who are cold

Ice-cold: Andre Pallante and Giovanny Gallegos

Two right-handed relievers who were returning to the Cardinals bullpen in 2024, both Andre Pallante and Giovanny Gallegos gave Cardinals fans reason to believe they would be better this season. Thus far, both have been major disappointments.

First is Pallante, who was recently optioned to Memphis in order to be stretched out as a starter. This comes on the heels of the 10 innings he covered for St. Louis this year, posting a 6.30 ERA in the meantime. While the Cardinals' "Big 3" of Helsley, Romero, and Kittredge have locked down the end of games, the Cardinals do need quality middle inning relievers to fill in for them when they are down or provide innings in lower leverage spots, but Pallante has been unable to do that thus far.

Many had confidence in Pallante this year due to the development of his "death ball", but it looks like hitters still have his number as they did in 2023. Perhaps a transition back to starting will be better for his style of pitching, but for now, his performance has been ice-cold for this Cardinals team.

Gallegos had himself a poor year in 2023 as well, and while the Cardinals brought in multiple high-leverage relievers to take the pressure off Gallegos this season, he's managed to pitch even worse than he did last year.

Gallegos is carrying a 9.00 ERA in his nine innings of work thus far, and he's felt almost unplayable every time the Cardinals go to him. He's continuing to give up home runs at a crazy high rate, and he just looks like a shell of his former self.

While both relievers have been really bad thus far, there's still time for both of them to turn things around. The Cardinals could really use that as soon as possible, but they also won't be afraid to turn to other options if necessary.