photo: Lance Lynn (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Pitchers and catchers report in less than a month. With the arrival of training camp, hope springs eternal for each of Major League baseball’s 30 teams. The St. Louis Cardinals are no exception. Their focus was rebuilding their starting pitching staff. If it performs as expected, then the team will have a successful rebound season as the memory of the dismal 2023 campaign fades away. Let’s look at how it could shape up.
Starting pitching has always been a hallmark of Redbird teams. Back in the day, it was Dizzy and Paul Dean, then came Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton followed by the likes of Bob Forsch, Joaquin Andujar, John Tudor, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Now the mantle is being passed to Sonny Gray and company. History suggests that the additions of Gray, former Redbird Lance Lynn, and local product Kyle Gibson were smart moves to bolster a staff that needed effective and efficient inning eaters.
Lynn referred to this history during Winter Warm-Up. “When I first came up here with Carpenter and Wainwright and [Jake] Westbrook and [Kyle] Lohse, I was the young guy,” said Lynn, who was 18-7 in 2012 with the Cards after cracking the starting rotation for the first time. “They would make fun of me if I didn’t throw at least six innings or didn’t throw 100 pitches. You learned quickly that your No. 1 goal as the starting pitcher was to finish the game you started.”
All three from Gray to Lynn to Gibson have proven they have both the ability and the mindset to finish what they start.
The other two rotation members are returnees Steven Matz and Miles Mikolas. Should they falter, look for Sem Robberse, Drew Rom and Adam Kloffenstein to take advantage of an opportunity, with Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore also looking for spots. Rom made eight starts for St. Louis late in 2023 so the former Oriole has the most experience. Robberse and Kloffenstein arrived via the Jordan Hicks trade. Both were promoted to Triple-A upon arrival and delivered enough that they could make some noise in spring training and beyond. Robberse was 2-1 in seven starts striking out 44 in 35 and a third innings of work. Kloffenstein went 2-1 in eight starts for Memphis striking out 35 in 39 innings while fashioning a WHIP just over one. Top prospects Tekoah Roby and Tink Hence won’t be more than a year behind.
President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak turned his attention to the bullpen once he secured his starting arms. The club avoided another contentious arbitration with closer Ryan Helsley. The 29-year-old was one of St. Louis steadiest arms out of the pen in 2023 but missed nearly three months with a right forearm strain. When healthy, “Hellz Bellz” delivered 14 saves with a 2.45 ERA while striking out 52 in 36 2/3 innings. At 6’2, 230 pounds, Helsley has been most consistent from the bullpen the past two seasons building a resume that includes 87 appearances, a 12-5 W-L record and 33 saves in 42 opportunities and seven holds.
Though Jordan Hicks and Genesis Cabrera are gone, recently acquired Andrew Kittredge and John King join Helsley to give St. Louis a pretty good trio in the bullpen. The 33-year-old Kittredge comes to St. Louis three years removed from an All-Star season and two years into his journey back from Tommy John surgery. Before his surgery, the veteran reliever was ranked in the 100th percentile of chase rate (40.7 percent), 91st percentile in walk rate (5.3 percent), 81st percentile in whiff rate (31 percent) and 75th percentile in strikeout rate (27.3 percent), per Baseball Savant.
King is another who will be attending his first St. Louis spring camp, but is proven commodity for the 2024 bullpen. Acquired in the Jordan Montgomery trade at last year’s trade deadline, the lefty showed he can deal. In the same number of innings with St. Louis compared to Texas (18 2/3), the big, tall Texan allowed fewer hits and walks, surrendered fewer runs, both earned and unearned, and substantially raised his ground ball to fly ball out ratio. Continuing to get the ground ball outs will bode well both for King and the Cardinals in 2024.
And the Cardinals may not be done, as club officials confirm they are continuing to monitor the relief market.
The additions to date do not cure all the pitching woes, but they make hope for a bounce back 2024 feel more realistic.
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