ST. LOUIS — It's July 12 and the St. Louis Cardinals are in last place in the NL Central standings. The Cardinals have not been this bad this late in the season in more than a generation.
In 1990, the Redbirds finished 70-92 and were in sixth place in the National League East—that was pre-Wild Card and pre-Central divisions. They were in last place behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies.
This year, the Cardinals are in last place behind the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
On the latest episode of Locked On Cardinals, host JD Hafron discussed one reason why the 2023 Cardinals are having issues, the starting rotation.
"Nobody saw the team crashing and burning the way that they have so far in 2023,” Hafron said. “I know we all had things that we thought they could be better at going into the season and that those were going to be issues but I don’t think anybody saw this coming.”
Hafron thought coming into the season that a disappointing result would be the Cardinals sitting a couple of games under .500 at the All-Star break. The Cardinals are 14 games under.
St. Louis is usually a perennial playoff contender; if the Cardinals don’t make it, they just miss. They are the team that’s always around, but in 2023, they cannot get anything going.
Now that we’re past the All-Star game and heading into the proverbial second half, this more than likely is the team going forward. There might not be a miraculous playoff run.
Hafron discussed the many issues the team is having so far this season but one major problem that the Cardinals have this season is the underachieving starting rotation.
Their best starting pitcher is Jordan Montgomery, who hurt his hamstring right before the All-Star Break. He’s the only Cardinals starter with an ERA below 4 (3.23), and he’s 6-7 in 18 starts.
Miles Mikolas is their second-best starter. He has made 19 starts, has a 4.23 ERA, and is 5-5. He’s also thrown a team-high 112 and two-third innings.
Next is Jack Flaherty, who is 6-5 with a 4.27 ERA, so he’s right behind Mikolas, and he’s made 17 starts and thrown 92 and two-third innings.
Steven Matz has been victimized the most by his team. He made 11 starts, then was relegated to the bullpen with an 0-7 record. His work in the bullpen has lowered his ERA to 4.56, but he had a rough go there for a while.
And speaking of a rough go. Adam Wainwright, the veteran of the Cardinals who has been there his entire career, has had a nightmare 2023. He’s currently injured with a shoulder problem that seemed as if it was an issue well before the Cardinals finally put him on the IL. He’s 3-4 in 11 starts with a whopping 7.66 ERA in only 51 and two-thirds innings. The team is 4-7 in those 11 starts.
You can’t win ballgames when your starting rotation’s collective ERA is worst than most teams’ number-five starter.
As Hafron said, “The starting rotation and the bullpen are why they are where they are.”
It came out on Wednesday, to no one’s surprise, that the Cardinals are going to be sellers at the deadline. Some of the pitchers we just mentioned could be scooped up by a team who needs starters. And maybe they’ll do better with their new teams.
For 21st Century Cardinals fans, this is uncharted territory, and things may get worse for the team before they get better.
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