Former Cardinals bust finally got the ultimate revenge on his old team

Dylan Carlson got his lick back on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Carlson, once touted as one of baseball's best up-and-coming young players, has experienced a gradual decline since a promising 2021 campaign with St. Louis. He's struggled mightily in the first season with his new club, the Baltimore Orioles. However, something about the redbird logo seemingly awoke a sleeping giant in the ex-Cardinal.

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Dylan Carlson goes off in revenge game vs. Cardinals, Orioles win

After the Cardinals shipped Carlson to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2024 trade deadline, he was ostensibly fired up to face his old team. The 26-year-old was instrumental to Baltimore's 5-2 victory over St. Louis, going 2-for-4 from the plate, including a 397-foot three-run home run.

Carlson got good wood on a sinker from Cardinals starting pitcher Erick Fedde that hung over the plate and drilled it over the right-center-field wall. It marked his second homer of the year, both of which have come in Baltimore's last two contests. But more importantly, the dinger gave the Orioles a 5-0 lead against a red-hot Cardinals squad.

That wasn't all the damage Carlson did versus the franchise that spent a first-round pick on him in the 2016 MLB Draft. He singled in the bottom of the third inning before stealing second base and later scored on a Jackson Holliday RBI single. The one-time Cardinals bust made his presence felt with a strong all-around showing.

Of course, as Cardinals fans know, Carlson was St. Louis' top prospect in 2020 and 2021. He was near the top of the league's pipeline rankings in both seasons, Nos. 17 and 13, respectively. Alas, it's been a steep fall from grace, as demonstrated by the Orioles' optioning him to Triple-A Norfolk earlier this month.

Nonetheless, Carlson was recalled less than a handful of days after his demotion. He took Tyler O'Neill's roster spot because the veteran slugger was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. But regardless of why or how, the timing couldn't have been better for the former, who got his revenge on the Cards.