St. Louis Cardinals' error streak reaches embarrassing level

The St. Louis Cardinals' defensive output has been much improved this year. While last week saw their team metrics take a hit, the players throughout the diamond are playing a much better brand of baseball defensively this year compared to last.

As of May 27th, the Cardinals are even according to Outs Above Average (18th in the league), they are 4th according to Ultimate Zone Rating with a score of 5.4, and they are 11th in all of baseball according to Defensive Runs Saved with a total of 12.

Once again, these numbers have slipped slightly since last week, but they are still marked improvements from the 2023 season. A better defense has provided the foundation for a more successful 2024 season.

However, there is still one area where the Cardinals' defense has been plagued: errors. While the Cardinals are in the top 10 for the fewest errors committed this season (26), they are currently riding a 12-game error streak. The longest such streak in franchise history -- at least according to my research -- was 21 games in 1930. That year, the Cardinals committed errors in 21 straight games from July 26th until August 14th. During that span, the team committed 38 total errors.

The error streak continued Monday afternoon when both Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt committed errors that led to eventual unearned runs. This was the first time the two had both committed an error in a game while playing on the same team.

The holes in the defense haven't really affected the team's overall performance, as they are 9-3 during that span. Thanks to a stout bullpen and resurgent offense, the Cardinals have been able to sustain success during a time when the defense has been porous.

Clearly, the increase in errors hasn't brought down the team on the whole. They are still winning at a decent clip; however, there should be some concern if this streak continues. Masyn Winn and Nolan Arenado have been the two primary culprits in regard to who is committing these errors. These two are supposed to be the best defenders on the team, but they are instead creating opportunities for opposing teams to score easy runs.

Winn's defense is a plus to anyone who has seen him throw 100 miles per hour with ease across the diamond after making an incredible play just before that. Nolan Arenado's defense, when paired with his struggles last year, is a bit more concerning. He hasn't been as reliable as he was in the past.

If the team is able to win despite these errors, they'll be even more unstoppable once the defense figures out what is going wrong.