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Which Cardinals players have the most to prove entering Spring Training?
We're almost there my friends. The Cardinals had a solid offseason and enter the 2023 season as firm favorites to repeat as NL Central champions. Most of the team is coming off strong individual performances from last summer. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado were MVP finalists with Goldschmidt taking home the award. On the mound, Jordan Montgomery shined after being acquired from the Yankees at the deadline.
However not every member of the Cardinals organization is coming off a career year. There are some players who are entering 2023 with a chip on their shoulder and a massive point to prove. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the players who are on the hot seat entering the 2023 season. The list itself is in no particular order.
Adam Wainwright
The first name on my list may be a surprise to some, why would Adam Wainwright find himself under any pressure this season?? While Wainwright may not be under a lot of pressure in the eyes of the fanbase as a whole, this I feel is more personal pressure that he is putting on himself. We all know that Wainwright had a rough ending a season ago. For most of 2022, Adam was the most consistent piece of the Cardinals rotation. He was going deep into games and always gave the Cardinals a chance to win.
But once the calendar hit September, Wainwright's year went into freefall, after a wonderful August where he had an ERA of 2.50, He went 2-3 with an ERA of 7.22 in the month of September. Wainwright went from being at the top of the Cardinals rotation to not appearing in the Cardinals' Wild Card series loss to Philadelphia. As it is also Wainwright's final season, expect him to enter 2023 with a point to prove as he looks to bounce back.
Jack Flaherty
It should be fairly obvious why Jack Flaherty finds himself on this list. In 2019 Jack became the ace of the Cardinals rotation, a standout year where we won 11 games and ended with a 2.75 ERA. When he is though, it has been pretty much downhill since. After a rather average year in 2020, a 60-game sprint, Flaherty seemed to be back to form in the early part of 2021, however, that is when the injury bug hit our friend and where things started to go amiss.
Since 2020, Flaherty has started a total of 32 games (he started 33 in all of 2019.) On top of wanting to get back to full health, he is scheduled to be a free agent next off-season. If he can get a full season under his belt and return to his ace form, he could find himself getting a nice payday come wintertime, whether it be in St. Louis or elsewhere.
Jordan Walker
Jordan Walker enters 2023 not only as the Cardinals' top prospect but as one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Throughout his time in the Minor Leagues Walker has shined. Walker spent all of 2022 at Double-A Springfield where he ended the season with a .306 AVG and 19 home runs. Walker will start Spring Training at the Big League camp with a chance to earn his way onto the Opening Day roster. Even if he doesn't come up until later in the season, Walker will begin his big-league career with all eyes on him. If he lives up to the hype, he'll be a cornerstone of the Cardinals lineup for years to come.
Paul DeJong
The last man on this list is the man you all probably thought of as soon as you saw the name of this article. One of the biggest stories of the Cardinals' 2022 season was the sharp decline of shortstop Paul DeJong. He has gone from being an All-Star in 2019, to being sent down to Triple-A Memphis last May with a .130 batting average. He eventually returned to the Big League club but didn't fare much better ending 2022 with a .157 AVG.
At Winter Warm Up a few weeks ago DeJong touted that he had been working on his swing all offseason and was ready to get back to his normal form. He'll get his chance as the Cards have already announced a second base committee of sorts to start the season with DeJong getting chances alongside the likes of Nolan Gorman and Tommy Edman. Cardinal fans will be rooting for DeJong in 2023 but his leash at the Big League club will surely be short. If he can't get himself going by the end of May, he may well find himself back in the minors.
Next. Ranking the Cardinals who will benefit from rules changes. dark