3 reasons why the St. Louis Cardinals miserably failed in 2023
By Curt Bishop
The Cardinals front office failed to address the pitching
When the 2022-23 offseason began, it was evidently clear that the Cardinals were in desperate need of some pitching. And not just any pitching, but ace-level pitching and players who have high strikeout rates.
Instead, President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak arrogantly claimed that the Cards already had six starters. What they needed was at least one top-level pitcher to give them a chance to go deeper in the postseason.
Instead, the Cardinals stuck with their supposed six starters. Things went south from the start.
Adam Wainwright was injured in the World Baseball Classic, and Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, and Steven Matz all struggled. Jordan Montgomery was the team's only true reliable starter, and he was traded to the Texas Rangers at the deadline, though the Cardinals did get a solid haul for the veteran left-hander, so some credit there.
Wainwright has struggled most of the season, and Matz is now out for the season after making drastic improvements and returning to the rotation.
The pitching was the team's biggest weakness, and a quiet offseason came back to haunt them very quickly when the regular season finally got underway. Thus, the Cardinals are set to finish in last place in the NL Central.