When the St. Louis Cardinals and their fans look back on the 2023 season, it will be the pitching, or lack thereof, that stands out.
The pitching is what sunk the Cardinals this season, and it’s what had them at 45-57 prior to Wednesday’s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Even with the starting rotation improving, the bullpen has been imploding.
Steven Matz pitched six scoreless innings on Tuesday, and the Cardinals came to within six outs of a series win against the D-Backs.
However, JoJo Romero and Chris Stratton allowed three runs, which led to another Cardinals loss.
It was their 24th blown save of the season.
On Twitter, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out a troubling statistic, which shows just how much better the Cardinals would be with fewer blown saves.
This would be the #stlcards record if, instead of 24, they had as many blown saves as …#Reds (15) … 54-48#Brewers (13) … 56-46#Pirates (12) … 57-45#Cubs (9) … 60-42
They are 45-57.
Currently, 56-47 leads the division. A blown season.https://t.co/JdJmxryyaX
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) July 26, 2023
15 blown saves is bad enough.
But if the Cardinals had blown just 15 saves as opposed to 24, they would own a record of 54-48.
The bullpen was supposed to be a strength for St. Louis entering the 2023 season.
They had Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, and Jordan Hicks at the back end with other pitchers such as Stratton in the mix as well.
However, the struggles of the starting rotation put extra pressure on the bullpen, which has become taxed as a result.
Now, the entire pitching staff of the Cardinals is in shambles as the team prepares to sell at the trade deadline for the first time since 2018.
The Cardinals were picked by many to win the NL Central, but now find themselves in fourth place with just over two months left in the season.
NEXT: Cardinals Insider Reveals Notable Jordan Hicks Contract Update
