The Cardinals send down former top prospect in baseball as they search for answers

Coming off their worst game of 2024, the St. Louis Cardinals have made some significant roster moves, including sending former top prospect in all of baseball, outfielder Jordan Walker, down to Memphis as the club searches for answers offensively.

The Cardinals have recalled infielder Jose Fermin to take Walker's spot on the roster, and have also sent down left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson, with left-handed reliever John King coming back to St. Louis in his absence as well.

Walker has really struggled at the plate to begin the 2024 season and has seen his playing time dwindle in recent days. Walker has continued to struggle with lifting the ball consistently for more line drives and home runs, much like he did last April, and slashed .155/.239/.259 in his 58 at-bats. Things have gone even worse lately, as Walker is slashing .071/.222/.071 in his last 14 at-bats.

Thompson, who came into Tuesday's game in relief of Steven Matz, was tagged for 7 runs in 2.2 innings pitched, and just has not looked anything like himself this season. In his 17 innings of work thus far, Thompson has a devastating 9.53 ERA, and it was clearly time for him to get some work in Memphis.

Last night's showing was just brutal. Losing 14-1, especially coming off such a positive momentum-building win on Monday, is both gut-wrenching and unacceptable. I won't let one game change my opinion that this team's offense is much better than it's performed so far and once it gets going, they'll be in a lot better shape. But it's hard not to look at last night's loss as a massive step in the wrong direction.

Manager Oliver Marmol did not do himself any favors amongst fans last night with how he addressed the club's performance, specifically how he was complimentary of Steven Matz's outing after he got tagged for seven runs in less than five innings of work. Post-game comments don't change what happened on the field, but it does set the tone for what's next, and you would have liked to have seen some fire and frustration from Marmol there.

The Cardinals are set to face their old friend Jordan Montgomery in Wednesday afternoon's contest. While the pitching, really up until last night, has not been the Cardinals' issue this year, Montgomery coming to town after getting a pretty affordable contract from the Diamondbacks before the season started will sting a lot for this fan base. The Cardinals really need to secure a series win before heading off to New York to face the Mets this weekend.