The St. Louis Cardinals are going in heavy on the starting pitching front.
The St. Louis Cardinals had glaring holes in their starting rotation entering the trade deadline. They missed out on Oakland A’s starting pitcher Frankie Montas as they traded him to the Yankees. The Cardinals got one starter after that, though, as they traded for José Quintana from the Pittsburgh Pirates … but they aren’t stopping there.
According to Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have been in contact with the San Francisco Giants on left-handed All-Star starting pitcher Carlos Rodón.
They aren’t alone in their interest, though.
Cardinals, Giants in discussion for Carlos Rodon
It seems like the St. Louis Cardinals have learned from their transgressions from last trade deadline when they decided to address their starting rotation on the cheap. They already have traded for José Quintana but Carlos Rodon would be an even bigger get for the Cardinals.
On the season, Rodón has a 9-3 record with a 3.00 ERA in 21 starts. He leads the majors in FIP at 2.29 and he’s averaging 2.9 walks and 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings. That strikeout rate is the best in the National League.
The Cardinals had a big rotation issue because Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright were their only starters that have been good and healthy on the season. Dakota Hudson and Steven Matz both have been largely injured and have pitched below league average. That’s part of the reason why, in July, their starters had an ERA of 4.40, which was 23rd in baseball. Their ace Jack Flaherty also only has pitched eight innings this year and is on the 60-day IL.
Last offseason, the Cardinals traded for Jon Lester, Wade LeBlanc, and J.A. Happ. All three of them were not great and the Cardinals were quickly vanquished in the 2022 NL Wild Card Game. This year, the importance of starting pitching is even more because, now, it is a Wild Card Series. Four of the six playoff teams in each league will be playing a best-of-three Wild Card Series so for the Cardinals, they have to have more than two good and healthy starters entering the playoffs.