The Cardinals had 13 different players lead them in bWAR the last 13 years

2019: Jack Flaherty (5.9)

With veterans Mikolas and Wainwright solidifying the rotation, the emergence of a young ace is exactly what the Redbirds needed. And this is where Cardinals fans start to dream of what could’ve been. As a top pitching prospect, many viewed Flaherty as the ace of the future. And 2019 is where he proved his potential. 

After a decent first half, Flaherty was untouchable in the second half posting a 0.91 ERA, the third lowest in Major League history behind only Bob Gibson and Jake Arrieta. His 0.968 WHIP and 6.2 H/9 led the National League, and Flaherty finished 4th in Cy Young voting. Sadly, injuries and inconsistency marred the rest of Flaherty’s time in St. Louis and he was never truly able to blossom into the ace fans wanted.

2020: Paul Goldschmidt (2.1)

2020 was weird. After playing just 5 games, the Cardinals were off for the next 17 days after suffering a COVID outbreak. They were forced to play 53 games in the next 44 days, and many players missed significant time. Still, Paul Goldschmidt played all 58 games (2 of the postponed games were not made up), leading the Cardinals to an unusual wildcard berth. Though his power numbers were down with just 6 home runs, Goldy hit .304 with a .417 on-base for an excellent .883 and 145 OPS+. 

In a pandemic-shortened season, there were all sorts of bizarre statistics. Brad Miller led the team in home runs with 7, an honor he shared with Tyler O’Neill. But, Goldy appearing on our list of bWAR leaders will surprise no one.