St. Louis Cardinals - The Covid-19 Era (2020-2029)

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2020

Decade

2020

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Titles:

Top Cardinals Players of the Twenty Twenties

2020 - WC Lost to SD

2021 - WC Lost to LA

Pitchers:

2022 - Won Division; WC Lost to Philly

Adam Wainwright (4.14) - 32

Miles Mikolas (437) - 28

Ballpark:

Ryan Helsley (7.55) - 25

Busch Stadium III

Sonny Gray (3.2) - 18

Giovanny Gallegos (2.26) - 14

Team Name:

Andre Pallante (3,2) - 12

Cardinals

Jack Flaherty (16.9) - 11

Alex Reyes (0.53) - 10

Owners:

Dakota Hudson (1.55) - 10

Southwest Bank Consortium - William DeWitt Principal Owner

Kwang Hyun Kim (1.92) - 8

General Managers:

Catchers:

Mike Mozeliak (President)

Willson Contreras (8.0) - 27

D:\

Mike Girsch (General Manager)

Yadier Molina (2.23) - 9

Pedro Pages (2.17) - 6

Managers:

Mike Shildt (2020-2021)

First Basemen:

Oliver Marmol (2022-2025)

Paul Goldschmidt (20.16) - 41

Albert Pujols (2.17) - 7

Hall of Famers:

None

Second Basemen:

Brendan Donovan (811.4) - 23

Rookie of the Year:

Nolan Gorman (3.5) - 11

None

ShortStop:

MVP

Tommy Edman (3.04) - 29

2022 - Paul Goldschmidt

Masyn Winn (6.5) - 17

No Hitters:

Third Base:

None

Nolan Arenado (18.5) - 34

Cy Young:

Outfield:

None

Lars Nootbaar (8.8) - 17

Tyler O'Neill (8.24) - 17

Notable Events:

Harrison Bader (5.99) - 16

Dylan Carlson (5.65) - 14

2020 - The Cardinals are, by far, the most successful major league team of

Alec Burleson (2.19) - 14

the twenty first century. Thru 2022, they have had only one losing season in

Victor Scott (1.7) - 10

the twenty three years. The run also includes eleven Division Championships

Ivan Herrera (3.91) - 8

and seven second places.

Notable Events:

2020 - The Redbirds finish second in 2020 at 30-28.

The pitching was real good and is what kept St. Louis afloat. They gave

2024 - Retool Time.

up almost one run a game less than the league average. It was the offense that

The Cards were 71-91 and there is no reason to think this team is going to get

was the culprit as the Cards scored more than half a run less than the

any better anytime soon. Just the opposite. It's been an amazing run for St. Louis

league average. St. Louis had lost stud OF Marcell Ozuna to free agency in the

with fourteen ninety plus win seasons in the first twenty two full years of this

off season and their offense never recovered.

century. But, it's over.

□ William O. DeWitt Jr. has owned the club since 1995. He's been remarkably

Offense:

astute in hiring brilliant management teams. DeWitt is willing to spend where

The Cards were 29 runs less than the league average offensively last year.

needed, but what has really made Cardinal management superb during

It will be worse in '24. Their three big sticks are declining. Goldschmidt is 36,

DeWitt's tenure is that they have been the most successful franchise in

Arenado is aging poorly at 33 and Contreras is pushing it for a catcher at 32.

baseball while still being frugal most of the time.The 2019 post season, however,

There are no young stars.

DeWitt could have loosened the purse strings a bit more and kept free agent

Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbar are good players. Maybe,

Marcell Ozuna because he was missed tremendously when he was gone.

in the near future, Walker will develop into a star. Same with SS Masyn Winn.

DeWitt has recently made headlines complaining about the difficulty of making

a profit as a major league baseball team owner in these times. This kind of

Pitching:

talk can't be very heartening to Cardinals fans moving forward.

The Cards gave up 81 runs more than the league average. No bueno.

The fire sale of Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline

□ John Mozeliak has been running the baseball side of the operation since

last year told you all you needed to know. Rebuild.

2007. He had a tough act to follow in Walt Jocketty, but the Cardinals didn't

Wainwright, who was great for so long, is cooked.

miss a beat. Mozeliak stepped up to President of Baseball Operations in

Mikolas and Matz are good middle of rotation guys, but they're at the top of

2017 with Mike Girsch moving into the GM slot.

this one. The bullpen won't be a relief this year.

□ Mike Schildt who had been the field manager since 2018 was replaced by

2025 - The Cards bounced back a bit in '24 and went back over .500 at 83-79

Oliver Marmol in 2022.

but their run totals indicated a 76-86 mark. Generally when a team over

achieves like that it's because they were winning the close ones and usually,

2021 - The Cards finish a solid second with a 90-72 mark.

in order to do that, you need a great bullpen. That was the case with the

Cards last year as closer Ryan Helsley had a huge year saving forty nine games.

2022 - St. Louis wins the Division at 93-69 but loses in the Wild Card round

for the third year in a row.

2025 Pitching:

Helsley is the key. If he repeats last year's performance, the Cards will not

2023 - The Cards plummet twenty two games in the standings and dip

sink to the bottom of the standings.JoJo Romero, Ryan Fernandez and

below .500 for the first time in sixteen years (2007).

John King supply solid setup support for Helsley.

Age crept in and signalled time for a re-tool.

The starting rotation, however, is not anything near what Cardinals fans had

Albert Pujols, 42, retired and Paul Goldschmidt, 35, declined significantly

come to expect over the previous two decades. Sonny Gray is the de facto ace

on the offensive side. Adam Wainright, 41, and Miles Mikolas, 34,

which is not good. Erick Fedde, Miles Miklos, Andre Pallante and Steven Matz

showed their age on the mound.

aren't winning you any titles. That being said, there are a couple of youngsters

who could put a smile on Cardinals fans faces: Lefty Quinn Mathews and

2023 - The offense declines 97 runs against the league average from '22

Righty Tink Hence.

The lions share of that decline is due to the retirement of Albert Pujols

who had a nice '22 at 24-68.270 but that production wasn't replaced.

2025 Hitting:

Paul Goldschmidt, 35, seriously started showing his age as he went

The Cards were well below the league average in runs scored last year.

from 35-115.317 to 25-80-268. The acquisition of catcher Wilson Contreras

That doesn't figure to improve. There are a couple of youngsters that

offset the decline a bit. He replaced retired star Yadier Molina.

are worth watching: SS Masyn Wynn, 23, and IF JJ Weatherholt, 22,

who was the seventh overall pick in last year's college draft.