A win streak and a recent run of outstanding play does not and should not eliminate long-term thinking and a commitment the Cardinals brass made to setting the organization up for future success.
Acknowledging the need to secure a foundation for seasons to come doesn’t take anything away from the present enthusiasm, energy and execution displayed by the Cardinals. It’s not a lack of belief in the current group nor does it signal a resignation that disaster waits around the corner.
The Cardinals went into Saturday night having won 11 of 12 games, a stretch that included a nine-game win streak and boosted their record (25-20) to a season-best five games above .500. Friday night’s series-opening win against the Kansas City Royals matched the Cardinals’ best start through 45 games since 2022.
The Cardinals’ Ivan Herrera celebrates on second after hitting a double during the eighth inning against the Royals on Friday, May 16, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.
Charlie Riedel, AP
That’s the sort of start that prompts optimism.
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Maybe there’s more in this ballclub than many people expected. You know, nobody is running away with the NL Central Division. These guys could realistically remain in contention.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
Perhaps, they ought to look to add at the trade deadline and make a push this season. They can fast forward this reset/retool and go for it now.
Aha. That’s the one. That’s where the excitement goes too far.
Enjoy the fact that the Cardinals are playing great baseball right now, but don’t let that cloud the way you think about how they should approach this summer’s trade deadline and its impact on coming seasons.
It’s not easy to separate the pursuit of immediate success and the need for long-term success. There’s always going to be a temptation to go full steam ahead now and deal with the ramifications later.
Of course, that’s a large part of the reason the Cardinals have fallen behind other organizations in recent years. They’ve chased within their means, while chipping away at their traditional strengths of player development and producing homegrown talent to fill holes from within.
It didn’t yield the ultimate goal of championships, and it left the foundation shaky, outdated and in dire need of an infusion of new personnel and a complete revamp.
Not learning from that errant approach would be malpractice.
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, center, responds to questions from reporters on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, at Busch Stadium. He’s seated with Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., left, and Chaim Bloom, who will take over as president of baseball operations ahead of the 2026 season.
Zachary Linhares, Post-Dispatch
So the idea that the Cardinals might look to add pieces this summer is pure poppycock. Not only would that be them falling back into their old patterns, but it’d also directly contradict the direction they charted and set out upon as soon as last season ended.
After president of baseball operations John Mozeliak expressed the virtues of giving runway to young players, committing the playing time to them and promising to allow them to learn and fail in the big leagues, a mid-season change of course would make the organization look at best contradictor and at worst rudderless.
For as many times as manager Oli Marmol has used the phrase “what this season is about” in reference to the focus on development, truly finding out what they have in certain players, assessing their needs going forward and getting invaluable experience for their current players, the pivot to “buyers” at the trade deadline would be farcical.
That would smack of an organization that made a hard decision that many fans found unpopular last fall and then caved less than a year later to the inevitable criticism and pressure.
No. There’s simply no change of course for the club’s leadership that isn’t disconcerting.
Beyond the absurdity of changing course so quickly, there’s also an imminent crisis in the organization that must be addressed.
The Cardinals still don’t have enough starting pitching going forward, and not just in that sense that “you can never have enough starting pitching.”
They’re on the doorstep of having at least two rotation spots vacated this offseason when Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz become free agents. As it stands right now, they’ve got one option they trust to step into the rotation tomorrow if needed. That’s Michael McGreevy.
The reason they’ve kept McGreevy at Triple-A is because of the lack of options behind him. Since the end of spring training, those options have only gotten thinner and taken substantial hits.
Not only did left-handers Zack Thompson and Drew Rom begin this season on the injured list — since the end of the 2023 season Rom has thrown just nine innings and those have been for Single-A Palm Beach — but pitching prospects Quinn Mathews, Tink Hence, Cooper Hjerpe and Sem Robberse have thrown a combined 25 innings this season.
Mathews, last year’s Baseball America Minor League Pitcher of the Year, last appeared in a game on April 11. Hence joins Mathews on the Memphis IL, and Hence has yet to pitch in a game this season. Meanwhile, both Hjerpe and Robberse have had season-ending injuries.
Nothing about any of that screams plenty of options ready to step into the starting rotation and go wire-to-wire next season.
Even if all their current big league starters and McGreevy remain healthy, which feels silly to even suggest, they still need more.
So the impetus for the Cardinals this summer in making moves needs to be bolstering their starting pitching depth.
If there are deals to be made involving expiring contracts or dealing from an area of organizational depth that can address this need, that’s where their focus must remain. That’s worth chasing.
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