Cardinals Given Strong Offseason Grade After Rebuilding Pitching Staff

St. Louis addressed their top needs this winter

Scott Neville | Feb 22, 2024

Cardinals Given Strong Offseason Grade After Rebuilding Pitching Staff /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals knew exactly what they needed following an unexpected last-place finish in the National League Central in 2023 -- pitching, pitching and more pitching.

The Cardinals were not meaningfully in it for Yoshinobu Yamamoto and are not going to land stateside stars such as Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell. However, they did sign a legitimate ace in Sonny Gray and successfully shored up the group from top to bottom.

The national media has shown their support for St. Louis' actions as well. USA Today's Bob Nightengale and Gabe Lacques gave the Cardinals a B- for their efforts -- which was in the upper half of their rankings as they graded each offseason.

"Cardinals president John Mozeliak promised they would add three starting pitchers after last year’s disastrous season and quickly delivered this winter, bringing in three veterans with Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn," Nightengale and Lacques shared Thursday. "Certainly, the Cardinals aren’t concerning themselves with a youth movement. Lynn and Gibson are 36, and Gray is 34, the heart of the oldest starting rotation in baseball."

The focus for the aforementioned writing duo rightfully was on the rotation but they left out some key details.

Mozeliak also went into the offseason with the plan of adding two high-leverage relievers to support the new-look rotation. He accomplished his goal by adding Andrew Kittredge via trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and then signing Keynan Middleton in free agency.

The retooling of the pitching staff plus the health of right-hander Ryan Helsley and development of left-hander Jojo Romero should aid the Cardinals' quest to improve upon their No. 24 ranked 4.79 team ERA from a season ago.

It's fair to question whether Gibson and Lynn will be able to hold their own toward the bottom of the rotation but the overall shift has been positive.

St. Louis is projected to win the National League Central by both Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus this season in what would be an incredible worst-to-first storyline.

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Published Feb 22, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu