This team is frustrating to be a fan of.
The Cardinals currently sit at a 45-40 record, 2.5 games back in the NL Central and tied for the last wild card spot. This past few weeks I’ve personally noticed a few weaknesses in the Cardinals roster which I’d like to address pre trade deadline.
Weakness #1: Whatever the offense is doing.
Alright, I personally love our offense, when they are healthy and firing on all cylinders, but right now that’s not the case. To begin the 4 game series against Atlanta, our offense scored a measly 4 runs compared to the Braves 16. Goldschmidt and Arenado have been our most consistent bats in the lineup but outside of that the lineup has been weak. Juan Yepez and Brendan Donovan have been a pleasant surprise to the lineup as each are hitting .274 or better which makes up for the lack of production from the rest of the lineup who are badly slumping. Yadier Molina is on the injured list along with Harrison Bader, so the lineup every day isn’t what it looked like Opening Day. With their returns and key players like Dylan Carlson and Tommy Edman coming out of the slumps they are in this offense is top 5 in the game.
Weakness #2: The rotation
Once again the injury bug bit our starters badly, as two of our top pitchers, Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz are currently injured (however Matz will be making his return shortly). This staff is weak. Our ace Miles Mikolas is giving us ace material however isn’t getting any run production to give him wins. Adam Wainwright is doing what Adam Wainwright does with his 3.26 ERA. Dakota Hudson sucks and should not be on this team (I’ve been personally preaching this for awhile) and his 4.29 era and low strikeout numbers aren’t helping him out when he gets lit up every single game. But, big boss John Mozeliak loves Dak so he starts every 5th day.
Matthew Liberatore isn’t ready for the big leagues, but is forced to start games and have his low 90s fastball get smacked around. Andre Pallante is alright however his last start he gave up 7 runs in 4 innings which isn’t too good. WE NEED A STARTING PITCHER BADLY. Mo needs to get his head out the gutter and go out and get us Frankie Montas. As long as Jordan Walker, Mason Wynn and Nolan Gorman aren’t touched, then go after him. This allows Libby to go back to Memphis and perfect his craft and eventually move Pallante back to a long relief role.
Weakness 3, and the biggest weakness in my opinion: The bullpen.
I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Outside of Ryan Helsley, Giovanni Gallegos and Génesis Cabrera, this is a weak bullpen. The Cardinals were using Drew VerHagen, Johan Oviedo and TJ McFarland in close games. These are pitchers who simply should not be on a big league roster for a competitive team. The big 3 cannot pitch every game, Marmol needs better options to go to when those 3 are unavailable. The addition of Zack Thompson as an eventual 2nd lefty to Cabrera when he comes back from the IL and junior Fernandez, who reinvented his craft, are helpful but we need more in order to be competitive.
Solution-
My solution is a simple one. The offense may be weak currently but it won’t stay like it for long. The only addition I’d make to it is a better catcher that isn’t Austin Rommie. With the pitching we at least need the addition of 1 good starting pitcher (ideally Montas) and 1-2 more solid relievers. The Cardinals have pieces that can be moved to acquire what we need however it all comes down to the front office to see if the moves will be made to take the birds on the bat to the promise land.
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