Under the radar starting pitchers that could be targets for the St. Louis Cardinals

Despite recent success from the Cardinals, starting pitching is still going to need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

When the trade deadline comes around, over the past several seasons it seems to be the same story for the Cardinals, they need starting pitching. We saw Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana come to St. Louis at the deadline last season, Jon Lester and J.A. Happ the year before that, and the last 2 World Series-winning Cardinal teams acquired a starting pitcher at the deadline (Jeff Weaver in '06, and Edwin Jackson in '11)

It's almost a sure thing the Cardinals will be active in the starters market in 2023, and there could be lots of options available. What John Mozeliak and the front office are frequent of doing is acquiring a player that flies under a lot of radars but in the end, makes a lot of sense for the team. Rarely do they go after the big fish, but instead they find a player that won't have the same number of bidders, is not as high in demand, but can be just as effective as we saw last season with Montgomery and Quintana.

While the names on this list may not be flash, they may be good alternatives for the Cardinals if they want to avoid giving up a haul for the few, if any, aces that will be available in July.

It's hard to tell if every player seen as trade candidates are available or will be available, but you can always make predictions. There are a few starting pitchers that could be a great fit for the Cardinals that fall under the radar.

Kansas City Royals Brad Keller

Brad Keller has been with the Royals for the past 6 seasons and he has had an inconsistent career so far. Keller had a very solid rookie season in 2018 and was superb in the shortened 2020 year, however in '21 and '22 he had a 5.24 era in 61 games ( 48 starts ). The problem with Keller so far this season is throwing strikes, as of May 16, he leads all of baseball in walks with 40 in 43.1 innings.

He will need to limit free passes to up his potential trade stock, which could rise because he could be an unrestricted free agent after this season if the Royals don't extend him. Some other facts that may not make Keller a fit in St. Louis are he doesn't fill the need of having a swing-and-miss starter. Jack Flaherty could become that guy again, but the Cardinals have been rock bottom in the league in K's the last few seasons and it could be a field the Cardinals will look to help fill.

But what Brad Keller has been in the big leagues is an innings eater, he has averaged 176 innings a season since 2018 which always adds value. He is a long shot right now, especially if he doesn't stop walking a batter an inning. However he will be 28 at the end of this season, still very young and he has shown production in parts of his career, the upside could be something to go after.

San Francisco Giants Anthony DeSclafani

The Giants are very similar to the White Sox. Two teams that could've contended for a playoff spot this year but are off to a rough start, and both teams have lots of pitching assets. We have heard about Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, and Michael Kopech with the White Sox, then Alex Wood and Alex Cobb for the Giants. The other Giants starter that could potentially be a good fit is DeSclafani.

DeSclafani is in his 9th season in the big leagues and just turned 33 years old. He is in year 2 of a 3-year contract and has not been healthy over those 2 seasons. After DeSclafani had the best season of his career in 2021 where he won 13 games with a 3.17 ERA, but since that time he has been limited to 13 starts, including just 5 in 2022. He has made 8 starts this season but was removed for a toe injury in his last start, and according to Giants manager Gabe Kapler he has had lingering effects from dropping a piano bench on his toe.

It will be difficult to determine how long DeSclafani could be unable to pitch, but he could get some trade interest if the Giants aren't in a position to compete in July. Before the injury, DeSclafani's 3.06 ERA is the lowest of his career, and he is currently 9th in the MLB in WHIP and 1st in walks per 9 innings with just 5 free passes in 50 innings. He could be a quality sneaky pickup for the Cardinals at the deadline.