4 Cardinals who must step up to get their offense back on track

The St. Louis Cardinals were built with the idea of their offense leading the way. They have an older, underwhelming rotation that can eat innings but will give up runs. Their bullpen should be good in the back end, but lacks depth. The offense was supposed to be what carries this team.

19 games into the season, this offense has been disappointing, to say the least. They're tied for 24th in the majors in runs scored and sit in 29th, only ahead of the 3-15 White Sox, in home runs. This happening while they sit in tenth with a 3.74 staff ERA is appalling, and must change for this team to compete.

With the Cardinals pitching as well as they had, they should be in first place in the NL Central, yet they sit in last with a record of 9-10 entering play on Thursday. There's obviously a ton of time for their offense to get going, but they need to start right now with these four players in particular needing to step up.

4. Jordan Walker's sophomore slump has been apparent

Jordan Walker's rookie season had its positives and negatives. The positives had to do with his bat. He hit too many ground balls for the Cardinals liking, but he still hit 16 home runs and posted a 114 OPS+ in 117 games. You could see why he was one of the top prospects in all of baseball entering the season, and expecting a big season in year two of his career was not outlandish at all.

Unfortunately, that hasn't taken place at all. At least not yet. Walker has been their primary right fielder this season but has struggled mightily offensively, recording just nine hits in 50 at-bats (.180 average) with a .546 OPS in 17 games played. To make matters worse, he has not started in two of the last four games he has appeared in and can continue to lose playing time if he continues to struggle.

Simply put, with how shoddy his defense is in the outfield, the Cardinals need Walker to be well above average at the dish to be a productive player. He's been well below average so far this season. Small sample, of course, but the fact that he doesn't have a single home run yet is pretty alarming.

Hopefully he can put this sophomore slump to bed and start raking. The Cardinals need him badly.

3. Nolan Gorman has struggled following his breakout last season

The Cardinals were an awful team last season, going 71-91, but that doesn't mean everyone on their team was bad. Nolan Gorman, for example, broke out in his sophomore season, hitting 27 home runs and posting a 117 OPS+ in just 119 games played.

So far this season, he has not carried the positive momentum at all. Gorman enters play on Thursday slashing .191/.257/.368 with three home runs and eight RBI in 18 games and 74 plate appearances. He's tied for the team lead with those three home runs (with backup catcher Ivan Herrera) but that's not saying much. The Cardinals need more.

What's even more alarming with Gorman is his increased strikeout rate. He struck out at a 31.9% clip last season, which is more than they'd like, and he has upped that to 35.1% so far this season. Minimal at-bats, yes, but that's concerning. It's hard for him to do damage when he can't make enough contact.

Gorman was hitting third consistently for the Cardinals but has hit sixth in each of his last two appearances. Perhaps the move to a lower-profile spot in the order can help wake his bat up. He certainly can't do much worse.

2. Nolan Arenado continues to show signs of regression

Of the players on this list, Nolan Arenado has the best numbers easily. He's slashing .299/.321/.403 on the year with one home run and nine RBI. It's encouraging to see Arenado hitting around .300, but the reason he's here is the lack of power and the lack of on-base ability.

Arenado has never walked much in his career but two walks drawn in 81 plate appearances? Really? He isn't striking out much either, which is good, but a .321 OBP especially when he's hitting a tick under .300 is disappointing.

As disappointing as his on-base ability has been in the early going, his power disappearing is what's really concerning. Last season he hit 26 home runs, a solid amount, but only seven of them came in the second half. He didn't hit any in his final 101 at-bats of the season. Combining that with his one home run in 77 at-bats of this season, and you've got yourself a real problem from the guy who has hit third or fourth in every game he has appeared in.

Arenado will always supply the Gold Glove defense, but his bat has really lagged behind since the second half of last season. If this is who he is now, the Cardinals might be in trouble.

1. Paul Goldschmidt looks like a shell of his former MVP self

Paul Goldschmidt's season got off to a great start with three hits including a home run in four at-bats on Opening Day. Sure, the Cardinals lost that game, but it looked like Goldschmidt was in MVP form following a disappointing 2023 campaign.

Since that brilliant Opening Day performance, Goldschmidt has nine hits in 62 at-bats (.145 BA) and does not have a single extra-base hit. That's right. The 2022 NL MVP has not even been able to muster up a single double in the last 17 games he has appeared in.

On the season, Goldschmidt is hitting .182 with just one extra-base hit and a .517 OPS. Yeah, that's going to have to change in a big way very quickly.

Even in what was his worst MLB season in 2023, Goldschmidt hit 25 home runs and posted a .810 OPS. He looks like a shell of that guy, let alone the MVP winner he was the season before. It's mind-boggling to see what has been going on with him.

If he doesn't turn things around quickly, trade chatter will only become louder. And if he doesn't turn things around, the Cardinals might not even be able to get much for him. Goldschmidt is 36 years old. He might simply be running out of gas. That's frightening to think about.