Is all well? Is it time for the panic button?
The St. Louis Cardinals should get a team award for just managing to make it through the first half of the 2025 season above .500 with the iffy pitching staff they have had to work with this season.
Aside from Sonny Gray, who continues to prove himself as an NL Cy Young candidate, the Red Bird's arms have seen a decline, especially in the past month or so.
The team, according to Katie Woo at The Athletic, has averaged a 5.02 earned run average as a staff in June and the starters consisting of Gray, Miles Mikolas, Andre Pallante, Matthew Libertatore, and Erick Fedde, have combined to give up 36 earned runs in the month of July in the 53 innings that they've pitched.
Despite the struggles, the Cardinals still sit third in the NL Central with a 51-46 record, 6.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs.
However, despite the rough patch that the team faced on the mound, the team does still have effective arms, both available as starters and in the bullpen as well.
Steven Matz, the former Met and Blue Jay, has started two games for St. Louis and has also collected a save on the year, while posting a 5-2 win-loss record and a 3.35 earned run average, showing his potential both as a starter and a reliever as he endures his 11th MLB season, the latter especially needed should the team decide to trade away closer Ryan Helsley at the deadline.
There is also promise for younger talent such as Matt Svanson and Michael McGreevy, who both have reasonable ERAs for their handful of appearances on the mound, and could easily find their way to starting spots in the rotation if manager Oliver Marmol sees fit.
Is it panic button time? Not at all.
As a matter of fact, it seems that the All-Star break came at just the right time for the 11-time World Series champions.
Category: Baseball
