2024 season: Eliminated on Sept. 20, 3rd in NL Central
Let’s take a look at the season that was for the 2024 St. Louis Cardinals, the questions the team must address this winter and the early outlook for 2025.
Read more: 2024 MLB offseason previews: What’s next for the White Sox, Reds, A’s and more?
Things that went right
The 2024 Cardinals were average in run prevention and below average in run production, and few of their players stood out. But there were still a few bright spots.
Ryan Helsley battled Emmanuel Clase all season for the major-league lead in saves. Helsley has been a terrific reliever for three straight years, and the key to his 2024 success was moving past a 2023 forearm strain while maintaining the velocity on his fastball and slider.
Sonny Gray was another bright spot, as he gave the team the workhorse it sought when signing him to a three-year, $75 million contract last offseason. He didn’t rank among baseball’s ERA leaders but led the Cards in many key pitching statistics.
On the offensive side, Willson Conteras and Alec Burleson were key contributors. Contreras dealt with two stints on the injured list but logged an OPS over .800. And Burleson took a significant step forward in his third season, showing an improved ability to hit for average and power while becoming the team’s regular No. 2 hitter.
Things that went wrong
The team’s two lineup centerpieces, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, experienced notable decline. Arenado reached base at a similar rate as 2023 but provided less power. The decline for Goldschmidt was more significant, and 2024 marked the second straight year that he took a big step backward.
Nolan Gorman is less essential to the Cards than Goldschmidt or Arenado, but he let the team down, nonetheless. Gorman has never been a high-average hitter, but this year he consistently struggled to keep his average over .200, and his power numbers took a turn for the worse as well. He was optioned to the minors in late August.
St. Louis ranked near the bottom of the league in rotation ERA this season, as no starter fared better than expected. Veterans Miles Mikolas, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn all produced uninspiring results, and Erick Fedde failed to give the team a spark after arriving at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, the Cards got exactly what one would expect from a rotation largely made up of mediocre,…