It’s time for the Cardinals to put the pedal to the medal and push for the future
The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in the midst of an unexpected playoff hunt and we have a more than half of the season sample size to support that argument. Coming into 2025 the Cardinals preached runway mixed with competition and they’ve somehow managed to do both in a league that generally doesn’t allow for you to.
Recently we’ve seen the offense experience some inconsistencies in their performance and it’s a long season and almost no offense is impervious to ups and downs. Given the grind of their schedule, and their recent injury struggles, the upcoming All-Star break will be a welcome blow from the daily grind for this group of hitters that’s trying to prove to the front office and the league that they’re legit, and that level of push almost certainly will grind some players down, but it will also bring the best out of the group as whole. An eventual return from Ivan Herrera, they’re most prolific hitter this season, will also help boost this squad later in the month from an offensive standpoint.
I still believe an addition of a right-handed bat to further bolster their group against a growing chasm of production against veteran left-handed pitching is a growing concern for them down the stretch. That’s not to say I don’t believe in this group, but it would simply benefit them to have an additional counter to something that’s been giving them fits.
The pitching staff is another story. I wrote last week about Erick Fedde’s struggles this season and his performance did not improve against the last place Pittsburgh Pirates. Granted they were a hot offense at the time. He also couldn’t make it out of the 2nd inning against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday Night Baseball. But, it’s been a long and obvious stretch throughout the season that his performance isn’t beneficial to a team trying to compete and it doesn’t benefit them long term as a player in his walk year before free agency. So, he contributes to neither goal the Cardinals are focused on for 2025.
The good news is, they have an in-house solution that DOES fit their short- and long-term goals. Inserting Michael McGreevy would give the Cardinals a better chance on an every 5th day basis and has 5 more seasons of club control that will be beneficial to get a longer sample to understand what McGreevy needs to do to fully establish himself as a member of the rotation for seasons to come.
BUT, they can’t use McGreevy! What if there is an injury! “We don’t have any depth!” Respectfully, I don’t buy that argument. One example, you could look to move Fedde for a AAA depth starter. The Mets could be a match for a deal as they’re currently running out Justin Hagenmen and former Cardinal Brandon Waddell as starting options for them. Jonathon Pintaro is their 23rd ranked prospect according to MLB.com and he’s 27 years old, so an older prospect with not much value for a win now Mets team, and the Mets would gain some added depth from an actual major league starter who might benefit from a change of scenery. Pintaro, could provide the Cardinals with another option as a safety net below the rotation in a “break glass in case of emergency situation.” The Cardinals also feature names at the AAA level like Tekoah Roby and Quinn Matthews. It wouldn’t be ideal for them to be pushed into a situation they might not be ready for but if the organization felt they gave them a competitive option to win baseball games you would understand the logic.
The other name I wanted to mention was Curtis Taylor whom they signed out of independent ball this past offseason. In 74.1 IP in AAA this season, Taylor, has a 3.03 ERA, 22.3 K%, .213 BAA, 1.14 WHIP, and a .255 BABIP. His 4.46 FIP does leave some to be desired but as an option to turn to in case of injury he could be a serviceable 5th starter for a month if need be.
The Cardinals have the depth at AAA to justify moving McGreevy up into a full-time rotation option and if push comes to shove, they have options to turn to in case of injury and Erick Fedde no longer serves either master let alone both with his performance and lack of team control.
-Thanks for reading