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St. Louis Cardinals: 5 takeaways going into the summer
5 takeaways from the Cardinals season heading into the summer
Spring is almost over! The Cardinals 2023 season is already two months over and it has been one of the more dramatic seasons in team history. This is the point in the season where the landscape of the league is shown. We know who are the contenders, we know who will be sellers, and we know who will be in the draft lottery. As it currently stands, the Cardinals don’t even know their position in the league. Here are five takeaways the team needs to consider going into the summer.
The front office and the coaching staff need to be on the same page.
The biggest bruise on the season so far has been the lack of confidence in decision-making. Many moves have been conducted by the FO and passed down to Oli Marmol to enforce. Almost every decision has backfired in all of their faces. The public feud of Tyler O’Neill has ended with a long stint on the IL for “back discomfort”. If anyone believes in the Ghost IL, here is a prime example. It seems inevitable that O’Neill is number one in trade deadline discussions.
Willson Conteras being moved to DH only created a national windstorm of content that only shed more light on the disarray of the Cardinals' FO. It only got worse when the FO redacted their decision and Conteras is back to catching again. Having your pitchers complain about game planning is fine. They have a new catcher and they should be getting high quality from the only investment the team made in the offseason. But after the dominant outing Flaherty had in Contreras’ first game back behind the dish, it goes to show confidence and accountability are forgone in this clubhouse.
This topic can go on and on (Jordan Walker's demotion backfiring, Liberatore usage, “outfield depth” with infielders starting in the outfield, etc.) All that matters is there is no clarity in decision-making. Stop reacting to first instinct and spend more time making decisions.
Steven Matz needs to be permanently moved to the bullpen
What is a match made in heaven? John Mozeliak and free-agent signings that never pan out. The latest installment of this saga is the four-year, $44 million dollar commitment to Steven Matz to be a middle of the rotation arm. It has only been a season and two months, with results looking like a bust. The season stat line is -.2 WAR, 0-6 record, 5.60 ERA (77 ERA+), and a 1.698 WHIP. It has been disastrous since Matz came to STL and it is time to admit failure. Mozeliak has yet to ever admit defeat, but this is an easy one to dissect.
The FO is so adamant about never defeating failure, that they will pitch Matz until the contract ends to try and squeeze the lemon dry (Paul DeJong since 2019). Matz has been pretty good vs LHP, so the only way the FO can come back from this signing is to stretch Matz into a bullpen weapon, a la Patrick Corbin 2019.
Stop wasting Jordan Walker
The demotion of Jordan Walker seemed goofy then and it still seems goofy. The team wanted to give Walker more opportunities to work on elevating the baseball, when in fact it made Walker worse. He has returned to his normal swing in Memphis and since has been his old self.
The Cardinals are running out of options with the outfielders all hitting the IL. Oscar Mercado is a fun story, but this team has a serious weapon in Jordan Walker. Stop being cute with the 40-man and build a team to get this season turned around. You know it is time to take action when Marmol is forced to play Tommy Edman in CF.
Give Luken Baker a chance
How much more does this guy need to prove??? Luken Baker is TEARING up AAA baseball. His slash line so far is .310/.426/1.040 with 15 HR, 48 RBI, and 57 H in 223 PAs. Marmol seems to DH Goldy and Arenado frequently. Gorman has played at 2nd on a regular basis and Donovan is able to play third and the OF. So if the team doesn't bring up Walker to fill the OF void, then why hasn't Baker been called up?
Could he be a prime trade target for teams come the deadline? If he keeps producing like this, then don’t waste a roster move on a guy who will not be around. Or let the guy have his shot. Goldy isn’t getting any younger and will be a FA after next season. Let's see if Baker is the heir to the throne.
Go get pitching
The last topic is the most popular topic amongst Cardinals fans. The Cardinals starting rotation is vulnerable and weak. Fans have known this since the offseason, and it didn't take long for the casuals to find out. John Mozeliak stated we have six starting pitchers and that not adding pitching might be a regret later in the year. Well, it only took a month to find out all of its regrets. Now it's apparent that this team stands no chance at winning the Central without fortifying the rotation.
Only Matz and Mikolas are under contract going into next year with the remaining staff hitting the open market. The young pitchers in the farm system are not ready for the call, and the team is doing everything possible to get a stronger pitching core going into the next phase of the Cardinals' talent. Until then, it is time to part ways with the position player depth and invest in the current roster. Many pitchers are worth making a phone call over.
Here are several names to look into by July 31st:
Eduardo Rodriguez, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, Aaron Nola, Chris Sale.