2024 season: Eradicated on Sept. 20, third in NL Central
Let’s check out the season that was for the 2024 St. Louis Cardinals, the questions the staff should deal with this winter and the early outlook for 2025.
Learn extra:2024 MLB offseason previews: What’s subsequent for the White Sox, Reds, A’s and extra?
Issues that went proper
The 2024 Cardinals had been common in run prevention and beneath common in run manufacturing, and few of their gamers stood out. However there have been nonetheless a number of vibrant spots.
Ryan Helsley battled Emmanuel Clase all season for the major-league lead in saves. Helsley has been a terrific reliever for 3 straight years, and the important thing to his 2024 success was transferring previous a 2023 forearm pressure whereas sustaining the speed on his fastball and slider.
Sonny Grey was one other vibrant spot, as he gave the staff the workhorse it sought when signing him to a three-year, $75 million contract final offseason. He didn’t rank amongst baseball’s ERA leaders however led the Playing cards in lots of key pitching statistics.
On the offensive aspect, Willson Conteras and Alec Burleson had been key contributors. Contreras handled two stints on the injured listing however logged an OPS over .800. And Burleson took a major step ahead in his third season, displaying an improved skill to hit for common and energy whereas changing into the staff’s common No. 2 hitter.
Issues that went incorrect
The staff’s two lineup centerpieces, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, skilled notable decline. Arenado reached base at an identical charge as 2023 however offered much less energy. The decline for Goldschmidt was extra important, and 2024 marked the second straight 12 months that he took a giant step backward.
Nolan Gorman is much less important to the Playing cards than Goldschmidt or Arenado, however he let the staff down, nonetheless. Gorman has by no means been a high-average hitter, however this 12 months he persistently struggled to maintain his common over .200, and his energy numbers took a flip for the more serious as effectively. He was optioned to the minors in late August.
St. Louis ranked close to the underside of the league in rotation ERA this season, as no starter fared higher than anticipated. Veterans Miles Mikolas, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn all produced uninspiring outcomes, and Erick Fedde failed to provide the staff a spark after arriving on the commerce deadline. Sadly, the Playing cards bought precisely what one would count on from a rotation largely made up of mediocre, growing older innings-eaters.
Offseason plans
This can be a pivotal offseason for a company that’s attempting to retool slightly than rebuild.
Many of the infield is about. Arenado has three extra years and $52 million left on his contract and can return because the third baseman. Masyn Winn has arrived as a terrific defender and viable leadoff candidate at shortstop. Brendan Donovan may be the second baseman, except Gorman exhibits in spring coaching that his swing is again on observe, wherein case Donovan can spend extra time within the outfield. The staff is about behind the plate with Contreras, and first base is broad open with Goldschmidt heading to free company. Administration may search a primary baseman on the free-agent market, or the Playing cards may flip to Burleson, who has primarily performed within the outfield however at occasions crammed in for Goldschmidt.
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Within the outfield, St. Louis has loads of choices however few certainties. Burleson may fill one spot if he doesn’t shift to first base. Lars Nootbaar is coming off a disappointing, injury-impacted season however ought to get a chance for a full-time position in a possible bounce-back 12 months. A pair of former prospects, Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II, are attempting to point out that they belong within the majors however have but to make an actual impression. Scott has up to now regarded overmatched on the plate, however he has loads of potential, due to his superior velocity on the basepaths and in heart area. Michael Siani is one other center-field possibility who didn’t hit effectively in 2024.
Greater than something, the Cardinals want so as to add a starter. Grey provides them one impactful arm, with Fedde and Mikolas additionally in a position to maintain down rotation spots. Andre Pallante might be the fourth or fifth starter, and Steven Matz will try to earn a task after being stricken by accidents in the course of the preliminary three seasons of a four-year deal. Gibson and Lynn had been pitching on one-year contracts, and the group can be smart to goal greater in free company this 12 months. Whether or not president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and normal supervisor Mike Girsch goal an ace equivalent to Corbin Burnes or drop down a tier to somebody equivalent to Luis Severino, this staff wants a proficient hurler to pair with Grey on the prime of the rotation.
Many of the Cardinals’ key relievers, together with Helsley, are beneath contract for 2025. That mentioned, the staff might want to change Andrew Kittredge, who was a helpful setup man and is heading to free company.
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Prospects on the horizon
The dangerous information is the Cardinals’ farm system is common at greatest. The excellent news is the staff’s greatest prospects ought to impression the membership in 2025.
There are a number of hurlers who may add youth to the rotation. Quinn Mathews is probably the most thrilling of the bunch, as he rose via 4 ranges this 12 months after being chosen within the 2023 MLB Draft. The left-hander posted dominant numbers and needs to be thought-about for the 2025 Opening Day roster. Mathews is well-known for having thrown 156 pitches whereas pitching for Stanford in a School World Sequence sport. Additionally, Tink Therefore has fared effectively all through a four-year minor-league profession, albeit with out throwing a big quantity of innings. He mastered Double-A in 2024 and will debut subsequent summer season.
Thomas Saggese arrived within the Jordan Montgomery commerce in the summertime of 2023. He was rather more efficient offensively final 12 months in Double-A than he was in Triple-A stage this season. With Gorman having flopped because the second baseman and Donovan able to enjoying a number of positions, the door is open for Saggese to earn a shot within the majors.
Ultimately, this group might want to determine what to do with Jimmy Crooks, who produced wonderful offensive numbers in Double-A this season and can be a robust defender behind the plate. Crooks is blocked on the big-league stage by Contreras and Iván Herrera, which suggests he ought to spend most of subsequent 12 months in Triple-A.
Targets for 2025
With all due respect to the Brewers, the NL Central is broad open. Milwaukee deserves credit score for successful the division three of the previous 4 seasons, however the Brewers’ roster doesn’t appear to be that of a dynasty, and each different staff on this division has the potential to put up a successful report.
For the Cardinals to emerge from that group subsequent 12 months, the entrance workplace might want to add some upper-end expertise to the roster. Kids equivalent to Mathews and Scott ought to assist the staff subsequent season, however a few proficient veterans — one within the rotation and one within the batting order — would actually have St. Louis nipping at Milwaukee’s heels.
Fantasy focus
Grey and Helsley would be the first Cardinals chosen in 2025 fantasy drafts. Grey might be considered a No. 2 starter in combined leagues, which places him into play within the vary of Spherical 5. Helsley needs to be chosen in an identical spherical, relying on how a lot a given league values elite closers.
Contreras would be the staff’s most interesting hitter, with Arenado additionally having loads of worth as a boring however reliable middle-round decide. Winn and Burleson might be helpful within the second half of drafts, and Scott and Mathews may flip robust springs into being well-liked sleepers within the remaining rounds.
