Cardinals rumors: Surprise trade target emerges to address pitching

The St. Louis Cardinals have been linked to a lot of starting pitchers on the trade market but there is one very surprising one for a few reasons.

The St. Louis Cardinals know that they need starting pitching. They have had a slew of injuries and a few starters be disappointing when they were healthy. In reality, the only two starters that have not disappointed either on the field and/or with injuries have been Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright.

That’s why they have expressed interest in a lot of starting pitchers on the trade market. They include Oakland A’s starting pitcher Frankie Montas and, according to Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, they have also discussed Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi and Angels starter Noah Syndergaard.

All three of those are on teams that have struggled this season so they shouldn’t come as huge surprises. However, one of their targets is from a contender: Houston Astros starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi.

St. Louis Cardinals interested in Houston Astros starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi

The Houston Astros have the second-best record in the American League at 66-36 but they could sell off one of their veterans: starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi and the St. Louis Cardinals have interest.

Odorizzi, 32, is a native of Breese, Illinois, which is about 40 miles away from Busch Stadium, so if the Cardinals and Astros hooked up for a trade, it would be a bit of a homecoming for him. But the problem for the Cardinals is that he hasn’t pitched well on the season.

In 2022, he has only made 11 starts and he has a 4.25 ERA (92 ERA+). He is averaging less than five innings per start with a career-low strikeout rate (6.5 K/9). He is also a free agent at the end of this season.

If the Cardinals acquire Odorizzi, it would reek of their last trade deadline. They traded for three left-handed starting pitchers that all were struggling elsewhere: Jon Lester, J.A. Happ, and Wade LeBlanc. All three pitched better for St. Louis but still weren’t the quality that the Cardinals needed, as the Cardinals were quickly dispatched in the 2021 NL Wild Card Game. Coincidentally, all three of them retired after the 2021 season.

In reality, the Cardinals need to get some more dominant starters because, as they say, you can never have too much pitching and there’s nothing worse than nickel and diming in starting pitching.