St. Louis Cardinals fans experienced strong emotions in 2022 as Albert Pujols spoiled everyone in his quest to hit 700 career home runs, while star receiver Yadier Molina made his farewell tour.
In 2023, the team’s focus will be on another division title and a longer run in the playoffs.
Despite a season that looked like a fairy tale, the team’s presence in the playoffs was limited to two small games against the World Series finalists, the Philadelphia Phillies. A very difficult awakening for the men of Oliver Marmol after so many beautiful moments.
Now that Pujols and Molina have ended very productive careers, there will be few excuses to explain any failures in 2023.
Molina has been replaced by Willson Contreras, while several candidates will combine their efforts to replace the legendary Albert Pujols.
At the deadline for transactions, Mike Girsch, the general manager of the Cards, had nevertheless done small miracles to add some key pieces to an already well-off formation, by going to seek reinforcements on the mound. Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana came to Missouri to add some teeth to a rotation of starters that needed help.
We know the rest and the season ended in a fishtail.
Quintana left for New York to join the Mets, while Montgomery will start the season in a Cardinals uniform, as he completes a rather heavy rotation with veteran Adams Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz.
A healthy Flaherty could make a big difference as Flaherty was supposed to replace Wainwright for a few years now as the number one pitcher, but injuries have changed plans and it looks like Waino has fallen into the Fountain of Youth since that time.
Contreras was the best receiver available on the market this season and he couldn’t have ended up in a better place to continue his career. It seems that Yadier Molina himself worked hard to find his successor. The Cardinals’ new receiver is a better hitter than his predecessor and his defensive shortcomings won’t show too much in the Majors’ best defense.
The squad’s young guns (Carlson, Edman, Donovan, O’Neill, Nootbaar and Yepez) will all have matured, while the club’s two spark plugs, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, will still be at their strongest. of the race when it comes time to determine who will be the most valuable player in 2023, as was the case in 2022.
During the last campaign, we must not forget that the Cardinals were led by a rookie manager. Oliver Marmol has proven he can win in the Majors and he will be even better over the next few years.
In 2023, the St. Louis Cardinals will no longer have the excuse of having experienced too many distractions and they will have to reach new heights, because this team has the talent to do so.
