For teams out of contention, the nightmare that is the 2023 season will soon be over, as there are only four days left on the regular season schedule.
Perhaps no team is more eager to put the 2023 season behind them than the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis is usually a perennial postseason contender, but will be sitting out this year. This marks the first time that they'll miss the playoffs since 2018.
They have also assured themselves of their first losing season in 16 years. They'll hope to bounce back in 2024.
The team and its fans alike are hoping that 2023 is just a rare outlier and that the Cardinals will be back in contention by the time 2024 rolls around. They won an NL Central title last year and were widely expected to repeat their performance in 2023, but they were not successful in that regard and are now set to finish in last place in the NL Central.
In this piece, we will break down three reasons why St. Louis will bounce back and return to contention in 2024, while also proving that 2023 was just an outlier.
Reasons the St. Louis Cardinals can contend next year: 3. A last-place finish will motivate them to do more
What ultimately hurt the Cardinals this year was their pitching or lack thereof. They lost Jose Quintana in free agency last year and did not add any other starting pitchers, instead opting to go with a rotation that featured Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, Adam Wainwright, and Steven Matz. Only one of those five is currently still in the rotation.
But the pitching is what failed them. The Cards haven't finished in last place since 1990. Their offseasons and trade deadlines have been relatively quiet in recent years. But for a team that prides itself on winning consistently, 2023 may serve as a wake-up call for some change.
Seasons like this one are incredibly rare in St. Louis. Prior to this year, they had finished over the .500 mark for 15 consecutive seasons. That obviously has changed now. But it's always possible that the way this season has gone will make them rethink their strategy and understand that more will need to be done in order for the team to contend in 2024.
Fans may not have much faith in Mozeliak at the moment, and it's easy to see why, but the Cardinals have an opportunity to correct a great error.
Reasons the St. Louis Cardinals can contend next year: 2. They already acknowledged changes need to be made
Back in July, John Mozeliak sat down with St. Louis sports insider Martin Kilcoyne to discuss what went wrong in 2023. To the surprise of fans, the Cardinals president of baseball operations was very candid and honest about what happened.
Mozeliak stated he wished he had added more pitching in the offseason and that it was his single biggest regret of the year. He also acknowledged that the team's strategy must change when it comes to building their roster.
In the following days, he outlined his plan for the trade deadline and beyond, reiterating the fact that the Cardinals will need to do more and stating that between then and spring training 2024, the focus will be "pitching pitching pitching."
The Cards added plenty of pitching at the trade deadline, acquiring Tekoah Roby, Adam Kloffenstein, Sem Robberse, and Drew Rom to bolster the pitching depth within their farm system. More will need to be done, but Mozeliak's trade deadline acquisitions are certainly a good place to start as the team continues to retool.
Reasons the St. Louis Cardinals can contend next year: 1. A long history of winning
Some fans may see this as a cliche, and it's understandable as to why. But after a dreadful 1990s decade, the Cardinals finished above .500 the following decade in all but one season. The 2010s decade did not feature a losing season.
In fact, since 2000, the Cardinals have only missed the playoffs eight times, reaching in each of the other 15 seasons. As such, this season could prove to be nothing more than a fluke. That's what the Cardinals and their fans are hoping. But the history of the team certainly speaks for itself.
As previously mentioned, seasons like this one are rare. Since Bill DeWitt Jr. bought the team in 1995, they have only had three losing seasons. They've put together a winning product more often than not, so there is reason to believe that they'll make the necessary changes for the future.
Fans obviously are going to be skeptical, given their recent track record of quiet offseasons, and it's understandable as to why. The Cardinals haven't won a World Series since 2011 or reached the Fall Classic since 2013.
The standards have seemingly been lowered. But history still speaks for itself and stands to reason why 2023 could prove to be a rare exception to that history.
