Ranking the 5 most disappointing Cardinals so far in 2024

The St.Louis Cardinals are at the 30% point in the regular season, there have been plenty of pros and plenty of cons, and things will have to improve if the Cardinals want to play in the postseason.

Looking at all the positives so far the biggest bright spot has been the pitching. After a miserable 2023 campaign for the Cardinals' pitching staff, they have seen a steady improvement in their staff headlined by the names added to the roster during the off-season. Andrew Kittredge has become a lockdown set-up man in the bullpen, Sonny Gray has been pitching like an ace, and they have gotten quality innings from Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson so far.

On the offensive side of things, there's not much positive to speak of, but Willson Contreras was off to a torrid start at the plate before his devastating wrist injury, and Masyn Winn is having a stellar first full season in the big leagues. Nolan Arenado has been hitting fairly well all season we just haven't seen the power numbers that we're accustomed to seeing, and Alec Burleson has bounced back from a frustrating 2023 hovering around .300 so far this year.

Sadly there has been a handful of players that have had a disappointing start to the 2024 season after coming into the year with high expectations. Even on very good teams, you are going to have some players that do not have the seasons that they expect but those down campaigns seem to be talked about more often when the team isn't winning games, and for the Cardinals that is the case.

There are quite a few players that have had disappointing seasons so far that did not crack my top 5 list. Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, and Lars Nootbaar have had slow starts to the season but are expected to bounce back. Giovanny Gallegos has really struggled and is now on the injured list, and Brandon Crawford has been disappointing, but that was to be expected. The players on this list were expected to be key contributors to the Cardinals this season, but haven't been so far, and the concern regarding these guys is rising.

5. Dylan Carlson

It was heartbreaking to see on the second to last day of Spring Training when Dylan Carlson collided with Jordan Walker in the outfield and suffered a sprained AC joint putting him on the shelf to start the season. Carlson has since returned from that injury but has sadly not been hitting at all.

After Carlson was a finalist for Rookie of the Year in 2021 it has been a struggle for him at the plate. He hit 18 home runs in 2021, but he has only hit 13 total in the last 3 seasons combined, and his batting average, SLG, OPS, and OPS+ have gone down each year since his rookie campaign. And so have his games played, Carlson has only played 89 games since 2023, and injuries have played a huge role in his decline.

In 2024 specifically, it has only been 13 games and 29 at-bats, but he only has 3 hits ( .103 AVG) all of those hits are singles, and he currently has an OPS+ of minus 5. It may be an over-exaggeration since it is such a small sample size, but this has been boiling for Carlson, his numbers have been in a steady decline, and with Tommy Edman potentially close to coming back you could see him taking playing time away from Carlson in center field.

Also with Victor Scott II seeing some big league time early in the year due to Carlson's injury, he could be seen by the organization as the long-term option at center field. And with the disappointing trends in Carlson's numbers, it could make the Cardinals' decision much easier on who to play.

4. Andre Pallante

Pallante is only 25 years old but has already been relied on quite a bit in high-leverage situations out of the bullpen, but it has been a difficult couple of seasons in the big leagues since his rookie year. 2022 was an excellent year for Pallante both in the bullpen and in the rotation as he made 10 starts that year, he had a 3.17 ERA, and 123 ERA+, and was a ground ball machine.

2023 saw some challenges for Pallante, I wrote about this towards the end of last season. Pallante actually saw an increase in ground ball rate but he was giving up a lot of hits, likely due to the defensive shift ban that started last season, and batters hit over .300 against both his slider and his curveball.

We saw film of Pallante working on a " death pitch " during the off-season, which is basically a curveball that has more velocity and a downward bite. Baseball savant shows here that he has not thrown the " death pitch " all that much as he was relying on his fastball approximately 58% of the time, but his struggles with getting outs on breaking balls have continued as batters are 4 for 8 on his breaking pitches this year.

In 9 appearances with the big club, Pallante had a 6.30 ERA, his FIP, WHIP, H/9, and BB/9 are all the highest in his career, which led to a demotion to Memphis. With the Redbirds in Triple-A, 4 of his 3 appearances have been starts and he has a 2.20 ERA, but he has struggled with control, walking 13 batters in over 16 innings. Maybe starting is the answer for Pallante to find success in the big leagues again, but two straight seasons struggling in the big leagues is disappointing for a guy who has so much potential.

3. Zack Thompson

Zack Thompson's major league career has taken a very similar path to Pallante's. Just like Pallante, he had a great 2022 ( 2.08 ERA and 189 ERA+), but it has been a struggle ever since. After a rough start to the season last year, he was optioned to Memphis and was used as a starter which seemed to be the long-term plan for him, and he ended last season in the Cardinals rotation.

I thought Thompson pitched well enough last season down the stretch to earn a chance at cracking the rotation in 2024, and after Sonny Gray's injury in Spring Training, Thompson cracked the Opening Day rotation and started the second game of the season.

Sadly for Thompson, he got hit hard against the juggernaut Dodgers but what was most noticeable was that his velocity took a significant drop in that start. He only made one more start before he was put back in the bullpen. After giving up 24 hits and 18 runs in 17 innings, Thompson was sent to Memphis for the second consecutive season.

Like Pallante, Thompson is starting in Triple-A, and he has a 2.29 ERA so far in four starts. Both of these pitchers are young and have high ceilings, you hate to see how much they have struggled the last two seasons in the big leagues, especially after having very strong rookie campaigns. I just hope that the Cardinals can give these two guys a long-term plan for them, they need to decide whether or not they're starters or relievers and stop flip-flopping.

1. Jordan Walker

The former top prospect in the Cardinals system continues to struggle to find his footing in the big leagues. He has had some great moments in his short career, but he has also had some lows, and he is just looking to put it all together.

Going into 2024 I thought the pressure would be off of Walker, the top prospect label has been lifted, he didn't have to worry about having to fight for a roster spot this year, and after ending last season with a solid stretch at the plate and steady improvement in the outfield, all signs were pointing to him breaking out this season. Safe to say I was wrong.

In 20 games with the Cardinals, he had a .155/.239/.259 slash line, zero home runs, and an OPS+ of 44. He was hitting the ball hard but he was beating the ball into the ground, the Cardinals see him as someone who should be driving the ball with more authority, which led to another demotion to Memphis.

Walker has now played more games this season in Memphis than with the big club. His slash line in 21 games in the minor leagues is .289/.341/.386, he has 7 extra-base hits, and 7 RBI, but again zero home runs. Combining Triple-A and the MLB, Walker has yet to hit a long ball in 158 plate appearances, that has to be concerning, doesn't it?

Thankfully for the Cardinals Walker just turned 22 years old, at least for now time is on their side to try and get him right, you just hope that the organization is not doing more harm than good. But regardless, if I told you on Opening Day that Jordan Walker would find himself in Memphis again by May, disappointing would be an understatement.