With a 71-91 record, the St. Louis Cardinals finished last in the NL Central.
This is a team that is used to October success.
They have made the postseason 16 times in the 24 seasons played since 2000.
That’s an amazing ratio of success, and they have also won two World Series since that year.
That’s why it came as such a shock to see the redbirds finish dead last in 2023.
The pitching was just awful, and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and his staff worked hard to bring in some arms.
Mozeliak knows fans expect a bounceback season from the Cardinals.
He knows he will be under scrutiny.
“Expectations are high. I get it. We need to get back to where we once were.” After one of the busiest offseasons of his tenure, has John Mozeliak done enough to put the Cardinals back on top? We’re about to find out,” Cardinals insider Katie Woo tweeted.
“Expectations are high. I get it. We need to get back to where we once were.”
After one of the busiest offseasons of his tenure, has John Mozeliak done enough to put the Cardinals back on top? We’re about to find out.
More from Mo’s QA with The Athletic: https://t.co/kGGHvVPyI1
In the offseason, the Cardinals brought in an ace in Sonny Gray.
Gray had a phenomenal season in 2023 and is a respected, talented veteran who will dramatically increase the quality of the pitching staff.
The rest of the rotation additions were more oriented to depth: Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson are no stars, but they are steady veterans (particularly the latter).
They also traded for relievers Andrew Kittredge and Nick Robertson, and added veterans Matt Carpenter and Brandon Crawford to the pool of position players that includes Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, and top prospect Jordan Walker.
The rotation is old and experienced, but could be sneaky good nonetheless.
It might be hard, but the Cardinals are much better than last year and could compete for a Wild Card spot.