The St. Louis Cardinals are now 10-17 after a Friday night loss to the Dodgers and there’s too much talent in Triple-A to not shake up the roster.
Especially in comparison to preseason expectations, there’s no other way to describe the St. Louis Cardinals‘ start to the 2023 MLB season than as an abject disaster.
With a loss in Los Angeles on Friday night, the Cardinals are now 10-17 on the season and sitting in last place in the NL Central. Yes, even the Reds are a game ahead. Things have gotten bad in St. Louis and, despite Paul Goldschmidt doing everything he can by himself, it’s not been enough.
Manager Oli Marmol is searching for answers. But sometimes the simplest solution is the easiest solution. In this case, that solution would be dipping into the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, a team stocked with some of the elite talent in the organization, and making some call-ups to help shake things up at the big-league level.
These three players in particular need to be called up by the Cardinals to try and jumpstart the season after the awful start.
STL Cardinals rumors: Jordan Walker needs to be back on the Cards roster
I’m on the record as not being okay with Jordan Walker being demoted this past week in the first place. Given the state of the Cardinals, it made no sense for the club to option one of its brightest young stars who, in his first taste of MLB action, had proven to be a solid hitter that gave a jolt of life.
On Friday night in Memphis, Walker hit a solo home run for his lone hit in eight at-bats since being demoted from St. Louis. While that’s not great, the fact of the matter is that Walker slashed an impressive .274/.321/.397 as a rookie in 20 games with the Cards to start the season before being optioned. He also smacked two home runs, three doubles and had 11 RBI on the year, though the 20 strikeouts were a bit concerning.
With the underperformance of Alec Burleson (.224/.28/.421), Tyler O’Neill (.256/.318/.385) and even Dylan Carlson (.250/.304/.327), St. Louis isn’t getting the most of their outfielders right now. While it would be great for any or all of those guys to get hot, Walker simply performed better at the same level this year and shouldn’t be getting wasted in Triple-A for much longer, especially if the Cardinals continue to be unsuccessful in winning ballgames.
STL Cardinals rumors: Juan Yepez shouldn’t be wasted in Triple-A
One of the biggest shockers after spring training was to see Juan Yepez get optioned to Memphis in favor of other options after spending 76 games in St. Louis a year ago.
During his time in St. Louis in the 2022 season, Yepez was solid as he slashed .253/.296/.447 while hitting 12 home runs and 13 doubles with 30 RBI over the half-season he spent in the majors. He might never be a high-average hitter, but his pop and relatively reliable bat were nice to have in the lineup.
He did get a call-up this year briefly while Lars Nootbar was out and continued to flash his talent, going 4-for-12 with a home run over three games of action.
In Memphis against Triple-A competition, Yepez has continued to hit extremely well with pop. In 48 at-bats on the year, he’s slashing .250/.321/.521 with three home runs — joining Walker in the long-ball party on Friday night — and 10 RBI to his credit.
Again mentioning the struggles of O’Neill, Carlson, Burleson and even the aforementioned Nootbar too, getting a power bat like Yepez in the lineup could help give the Cardinals some more consistent offense to help them erase this early-season slump and climb back into playoff contention.
STL Cardinals rumors: Matthew Liberatore deserves another major-league shot
The bats have become a more concerning problem for the St. Louis Cardinals lately but the bigger issue over the 10-17 start has been the pitching. Their 4.49 team ERA this season ranks just 22nd in baseball. More importantly, the rotation has struggled mightily as they are tied for 25th in Quality Starts this season with just five out of 27 games.
Obviously, St. Louis is awaiting the soon-coming return of Adam Wainwright, which should help. But the truth of the matter is that three of the team’s current starters — Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Jake Woodford — all have ERAs of 5.47 or higher this season. Meanwhile, Jordan Montgomery leads the team’s starters with a 3.81 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, which are fine numbers, but not exactly what you want as the best in the rotation.
Put simply, the Cardinals need more than just Wainwright to give the pitching staff a boost and one of the team’s top prospects, Matthew Liberatore, could be the answer.
Liberatore made his anticipated major-league debut with nine appearances and seven starts last season, a venture that didn’t go all too well. He went just 2-2 with a 5.97 ERA and 1.73 WHIP while opponents hit .304 with five home runs against him and as he struck out just 28 batters while walking 18 over 34.2 innings pitched.
With Memphis this season, though, Liberatore is making his case for another shot. He’s 3-1 through his first five starts with a 2.60 ERA and 1.12 WHIP, striking out 36 batters with only nine walks over 27.2 innings.
Yes, his first go at the big-league level didn’t work out well. But given the struggles of the pitching staff to this point, calling him up and giving him another shot based on how well he’s pitched in Triple-A to this point would be worthwhile for St. Louis to explore.