Cardinals Starting Rotation Sucks Right Now

Two things are true after 10 games. First, the St. Louis Cardinals are still the favorites to win the National League Central Division. Second, the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation sucks right now.

Oh and actually, one more thing, the St. Louis Cardinals have the worst record in the National League after losing their series opener to the Colorado Rockies on Monday night 7-4. The Cardinals have lost six of their last seven games and have been outscored 34-18 during that seven game span. We know their offense will be good in 2023, and although it is only a 10-game sample size, the Cardinals’ starting rotation is so far proving to be what many thought would be their big weakness.

Not only are the Cardinals starting pitchers near the bottom of the National League, their collective 5.96 ERA is the fifth worst in all of MLB, behind the Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers and Oakland A’s.

And don’t get me wrong, I know as Cubs fans we want to jump all over the fact that for the most part St. Louis is trotting out the same starting pitchers this season as they did in 2022, besides Adam Wainwright, who is currently injured. So, what has been the major change, then? Hmmm.

HOWEVER! Again, small sample size, Willson Contreras actually has good framing stats so far with the Cardinals. But that is only one part of the story behind the plate and the Cubs made it obvious they didn’t trust Contreras to be the right guy to lead the next great Cubs pitching staff. Whether it was game prep, following a game plan as it was intended, pitch framing, blocking, game-calling, the Cubs saw enough of Contreras to believe they could do better defensively.

We all saw the ERA comparisons in 2022, when Contreras was catching and when he wasn’t. Again, these numbers don’t tell the entire story, but the difference was eye-popping.

So yeah, the Contreras slander is going to continue because his reputation behind the plate is not good, but right now it’s not completely his fault that the Cardinals starting rotation sucks. That being said, it doesn’t mean he’s not part of the problem either.

On the flip side, the Cubs are going with defense-first catchers in Tucker Barnhart and Yan Gomes in 2023. So far in nine games, the Cubs starting rotation has the best combined ERA in the National League and fifth best in baseball at 3.42.

The Cubs are banking on great defense and great pitching, while sacrificing some offense at the catcher position at least in 2023. Obviously a long way to go in the 162-game season, but so far the Cubs have to be liking their results unlike the Cardinals.

Real shame, we feel so bad that this is happening to the Cardinals. But also, who could have ever seen this coming…

After all the shit-talking, subtle and direct jabs at the Cubs from Contreras since signing with the Cardinals, I bet Jed Hoyer is smiling a bit more seeing St. Louis struggle as much as they have to begin the season.