The Cardinals remove a struggling reliever but make no changes to abysmal offense

The St. Louis Cardinals are coming off perhaps their lowest point of the 2024 season thus far, dropping two of three against the Chicago White Sox, who own the worst record in all of baseball. Coming into the series, the White Sox had won just one road game all year, and somehow the Cardinals managed to drop two as their offense continues to underperform.

While the cries have gotten louder for changes to be made to the coaching staff or position player group, the Cardinals have opted to stay the course with their National League's worst lineup but did make a difficult decision with one of their most prominent relievers in recent memory. Giovanny Gallegos was added to the 15-day IL with what they are calling right shoulder impingement, and the club is calling up RHP Chris Roycroft to take his place on the roster from Memphis. In order to create a 40-man roster spot, Tommy Edman was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Gallegos has struggled mightily in 2024, posting a 12.00 ERA in 13 appearances, and was unable to record a single out in his last two appearances while giving up seven runs between those two outings. Gallegos lost a few ticks of velocity on his fastball this season and had no feel for his normally wipe-out slider. It was clear the club would need to make a move with Gallegos, but due to his track record with this club, finding a way to get him on the injured list rather than designate him for an assignment was the best possible route toward success for both sides.

The Cardinals acquired Roycroft two years ago and put up encouraging numbers in Memphis thus far, sitting at a 1.38 ERA in the 11 appearances he's had thus far. His low strikeout rate and rather high walk rate may rear its ugly head in St. Louis, but the Cardinals want to give him a go and see what Roycroft can provide with this opportunity.

It does not appear that the club will be making any changes to their coaching staff or position player group at this very moment. It's safe to say that will not sit well with most Cardinals fans, something I discussed on the latest episode of the Dealin' the Cards podcast.

St. Louis is facing a pivotal stretch of games over the next week. They begin a three-game set at home against the New York Mets tonight, followed by a road trip that will see them take on the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Angels. The Cardinals are not out of the race by any means with their 15-19 record, but if things don't get on track right now, their chances will dwindle even further.

Now feeling like the right time for some sort of shakeup to this clubhouse, and I'd lean on the side of making a change by removing Turner Ward as the hitting coach. This offense has far too much talent not to be better than it is, and time is ticking on whether or not they can get it sorted out before their record is unrecoverable.