(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
As the All-Star break approaches, it’s clear that the St. Louis Cardinals are perhaps the biggest disappointment in all of baseball.
Despite a quiet offseason, nobody saw a 27-42 start coming.
The Cardinals haven’t been this far under .500 since September 23, 1997.
There are several issues plaguing the team right now.
The starting pitching has improved drastically, but the rotation still lacks a true ace.
The offense has fallen flat, while the bullpen has cost them a great many games.
There is one issue, however, that may be overlooked.
On Twitter, MLB writer Mark Saxon took note of the fact that the Cardinals pitching staff lacks strikeout stuff.
One perhaps underrated part of the #STLCards struggles is that the pitching staff ranks 16th in strikeouts. The team could have seen it coming and did little to upgrade a staff that lacks upper-echelon stuff. It’s hard to win with a contact-oriented staff backed by shaky fielding
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) June 15, 2023
Pitchers such as Nathan Eovaldi and Chris Bassitt were available this winter, among other starters.
Yet the Cardinals didn’t add another starting pitcher.
Their current pitching staff features pitchers that are largely more pitch-to-contact arms.
While a good defense can help solve those problems, the Cardinals defense has slipped to 28th in defensive runs saved.
The Cards staff ranks 16th in the Major Leagues in strikeouts.
Saxon noted that it is hard to win with a pitch-to-contact staff when the pitchers are backed by shaky fielding.
Pitchers with the ability to record more strikeouts can mask defensive deficiencies.
However, the Cardinals don’t have many pitchers that are largely strikeout pitchers.
As such, the team has fallen to dead last in the NL Central and owns the worst record in the entire National League.
Only the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals have worse records.
The post MLB Writer Reveals A Culprit For Cardinals’ Rocky Season appeared first on The Cold Wire.