At the end of the season, when their streaks of four straight years in the postseason and 15 consecutive winning seasons are officially snapped, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to have their work cut out for them.
Their biggest need this offseason will be pitching.
More specifically, starting pitching.
With Adam Wainwright retiring, they’ll have three open rotation spots to fill.
However, they have a few young starters that are making solid impressions at the present time and could be of use to them.
On 101 ESPN, a local St. Louis sports radio station, radio broadcaster Mike Claiborne discussed what the Cardinals could do with these young starters.
How does recent pitching success affect the Cardinals proposed "three pitchers" plan for the offseason?@ClaibsOnline breaks down the big stat in the pitcher's favor & how the recent success could help the Cardinals in the offseason.
Full Interview: https://t.co/6UodHw2mKX pic.twitter.com/UpNMn3XTZZ
— 101 ESPN St. Louis (@101espn) August 15, 2023
Matthew Liberatore, Dakota Hudson, and Zack Thompson have all performed quite well since the trades of Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty.
This is an encouraging sign for the Cardinals, who for a time did not have a lot of pitching depth in their system.
But if those three starters are at their best, they could have some competition for spots in the rotation or in the bullpen.
Claiborne says he hopes that these young starters can build on their current success and give the team options in the rotation or bullpen next year, or even become potential trade chips if the Cardinals explore the trade market for starting pitchers.
St. Louis will likely have to explore both the trade and free-agent markets as they look to fill the open spots in their starting rotation for next season.
Their hope is to be back in contention after a disastrous 2023 campaign.
NEXT: Nolan Arenado Comments On His Improved Second-Half Defense