The St. Louis Cardinals needed to add at least three pitchers to even dream about contending in 2024.
Their rotation was among the most disappointing of the 2023 campaign and was one of the main reasons they finished last in the NL Central with a 71-91 record.
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak went to work and secured three starters early in the offseason: Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Sonny Gray.
All three pitched more than 180 innings last season and guarantee, at the very least, length for the Cardinals.
The only one of those who can be considered a frontline starter is Gray, who posted a 2.79 ERA in 2023 and was a Cy Young award finalist in the American League.
Lynn and Gibson are more like backend starters, but are valuable nonetheless.
Now, the Cardinals rotation has the three newcomers plus Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz.
The Game Day MLB posted a graphic with all the names.
Who’s stopping this rotation
( @MLBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/bOi1b5WK00
— The Game Day MLB (@TheGameDayMLB) November 27, 2023
Mikolas and Matz both have the potential to post an ERA below 4.00.
Matz did it, in fact, with a 3.86 ERA in 105 innings.
The concern about this particular staff is one and only one: age.
Gibson and Lynn are 36, Mikolas is 35, Gray is 34, and Matz is 32.
The average age is, well, not overly promising.
Older players tend to get injured or lose velocity and stuff easily.
If the Cardinals staff can avoid major injuries, they could potentially return to playoff contention.
They could also add one more reliable starter via trade or free agency and send one of the veterans to the bullpen.
The offseason is young, and they have options.
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