9 former Cardinals that could win their first World Series in 2023

Texas Rangers Mike Maddux

The pitching coach for the Rangers, who served in the same role with the Cardinals from 2018-2022 is back in his second stint as the Rangers pitching coach and is back in the World Series.

Maddux, the older brother of Hall of Fame pitcher Greg, had a 15-year career of his own as a pitcher mostly in relief with the Phillies, Padres, Mets, Pirates, Red Sox, Mariners, Expos, Astros, and 2 stints with the Dodgers. He had a career 4.05 ERA in 472 appearances but he never won a World Series as a player, he only pitched in the postseason once with Boston in 1995.

After his career he went straight into coaching, starting in the Astros minor league system then he was the Brewers pitching coach from 2003-2008. He then went to Texas in the same position and he helped the Rangers make the World Series in back-to-back seasons in 2010-2011, he stayed with Texas until 2015. After being the Nationals pitching coach for two seasons, Maddux was hired by the Cardinals to be the pitching coach and he stayed in that role until he left the organization after the 2022 season.

For the 2023 season, Maddux found his way back to Texas to help the Rangers revamp their pitching staff. They used free agency to try to improve their rotation by bringing in Jacob DeGrom, Nate Eovaldi, and Jon Gray. Injuries and severe struggles with the bullpen really affected Texas for most of the season which led to Texas having a slightly higher ERA this year (4.21 ERA in 2022 and 4.24 ERA in 2023), but they have a 3.67 ERA in these playoffs on their way to the World Series. In the 5 seasons Maddux was the Cardinal pitching coach the worst they ever ranked in the league in ERA was 12th, but this year the Cards were 24th in the league with a 4.81 ERA.