St. Louis Cardinals: 5 biggest disappointments from 2022

The St. Louis Cardinals had one of their more exciting seasons in franchise history in 2022, backed by MVP performances from Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, an epic farewell for Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols, and a young core that began to emerge.

Even the best of seasons come with their share of disappointments. Whether it's player performances, injuries, front-office decisions, or playoff heartbreak. The Cardinals had their fair share of this in 2022. Each of these played a role in limiting the success of St. Louis in 2022, and some may have impacts on the club in 2023 and beyond.

Let's look at the five most disappointing things from 2022 as the Cardinals look to build toward a better year in 2023.

#5 - Paul DeJong's continued struggles

Many predicted this would be the case coming into 2022, but Paul DeJong continued to plummet from his once-promising career as a Cardinal.

Slashing .157/.245/.286 is about as bad as it can get in a single season, and the Cardinals have him on the books at $9 million for the 2023 season. DeJong was sent down to Triple-A Memphis for most of the summer, and after a few week long hot stretch upon his return, he regressed into the same patterns as before.

John Mozeliak has indicated that DeJong is working on adjustments that he had been resistant to over the last few seasons, so there is hope that the 29-year-old can turn things around in 2023. But as for his 2022 season, it was about as bad as it possibly could have gone.