The Unexpected Downfall of the 2023 Cardinals 

The Cardinals are single handedly putting Yadi in the Hall with this downfall. He leaves, and suddenly, their pitching falls off a cliff.

As a Cubs fan, I gotta say I totally undervalued how Yadi carried their franchise

You can not outscore bad pitching, just ask the Angels…

The issue with this team is that Yadi ran the cardinals, not the manager or upper management. I listened to a podcast, a former cards player was saying how even on his off days the manager would ask Yadi about if they should leave in the pitcher or not. The pitchers don’t know how to sequence, because Yadi did it for them. The hitters don’t know how to focus, because Yadi was the rally banner. It’s a team that needs Yadi, but without Yadi. Marmol has been looking worse and worse over the year, and the way they’ve been picking scapegoats has been unprofessional at best and catastrophic at worse. This is all coming from a tigers fan, who just hates seeing a team with this much talent on paper be wasted. (Besides the white Sox)

Cardinals fan here and you did an excellent job describing this confusing team and their horrendous start to the season...

I'll never forget the 2006 St Louis Cardinals run to the World Series championship. That was one of the most miraculous championships in sports. It was supposed to be the New York Mets year

even as a reds fan i know the cardinals are due for 20-3 stretch over the most important part of the season

As a cardinals fan can we talk about how good Tommy Edman has been at running down balls in center like its nothing.

As a cardinals fan, nothing will change. 5/87.5 being their biggest contract to a non cardinal tells you all you need to know. At most, they will find some guys on the waiver wire (like they did with lester and happ) and hope they turn out to be somewhat decent.

The definition of being satisfied with mediocrity and not actively trying to improve their weakness is embodied in their season performance so far

The Redbirds picked up right where they left off last October vs. the Phillies. The signs were there in September.

As a Braves fan I have noticed a big difference with Sean Murphy behind the plate. Great catchers are rare.

As a diehard Cardinal's fan. This season is crazy. I am 25 years old. I only remember winning Cardinals baseball. always in playoff race. The down year in 2007 was sub .500 but not this bad. Pitchers weren't expected to be good, offence was to be a powerhouse. our hitting hasn't been good. I hope this turns around soon. Wish Molina and my favorite player Pujols would come back.

Honestly if the cards don't turn it around I'd be shocked if Marmol doesn't get canned.

Being in a weak division is the silver lining, if they can somehow get to a game or two over .500 by September, they can still win it

As a Cubs fan, I always loved Contreras and was sad to see him go. As a Puerto Rican, I have always admired Yadi and loved watching him play in the WBC, also sad to see him retire. He was a manager on the field and really covered up or hid a lot of the deficits and mistakes the Cards' management was making.

I say this every time. The offense will come with the pitching.

As a Brewers fan, it's so nice to see the Cardinals losing so much, even though I know it won't last lol. Just a wee bit of saltiness on my end though since they've kicked our butts for so long lol

The division is so bad there's still hope, lol.

As a Cardinals fan who was really optimistic in the pre season, I am just devastated by the performance so far this year.

as a rockies fan every cardinals loss nourishes me.

I've been counting StL out for years and they always seem to claw their way back. Hated them since 1982, Go Brew Crew.

For those saying Yadi was "overrated", this Cardinals's downfall without him is a big "how do you like them apples?"

As a Cardinals fan, you nailed it on the head Sportstorm. I feel bad for Contreras. Yes, he is struggling this year, but using him as a scapegoat for the pitching woes is low hanging and grasping at straws. This teams is issues began when nearly the entire coaching staff (hitting, pitching, bench) all left. That was the first red flag. That has a drastic impact on how the players approach the game. Now the Cardinals are reaping what they sowed, and it shows. Marmol can’t manage the team, and Mo’s short sighted strategy has blown up in their faces. Great video Sportstorm.

The problem for me, this team isn't build to succeed on the playoff as the pitching is mediocre and the offensive isn't on the top of the league. This past years they have reach playoff but perform miserably. Reach playoff consistently has allowed mozeliak keep his job finally these season has proved that just compete and cardinals way magic isn't enough. 2013 was a fluke.

The Devil Magic finally dried up. What a shame. Thanks SportStorm!

The main issue has been pitching. Mikolas has been the best starter this season, but that's not saying much as the bullpen has blown leads several times. The offense has also been very inconsistent. They need to start making moves to solidify the pitching and perhaps bag a solid bat as well.

I like to think the 2022 Phillies did this to the cardinals team

As a Dodger fan, it brought me great joy that the Cardinals are underperforming thus late in the season…although I have seen this story before.

Many in St. Louis did not expect much given their starting pitching staff. For years Jack Flaherty showed just enough to make you believe he could become an ace similar to how Sandy Koufax struggled for years with his wildness until a great 6 year run. Steve Matz has really struggled and likely should be starting in the minors and Wainright is pitching like how his arm went dead the last month of the prior season (time for retirement). I expected a team that would be a little over .500 since they are in a weak division. Yadi Molina was an exceptional catcher defensively and stats have shown how much was his impact during his seasons. . My Cards memories begiin in 1960 and this team reminds me of their seasoms in the 1970s which this season for many fans is their first to see this bad a Cardinals team. I agree the starting pitching has had a snowball effect on the team causing too much pressure on the Offense. I liked hearing your outsider thoughts on the team. Bad picthing usually does make for a bad team regardless of hitting.

I feel like they will fix things in mid August and September, they seem to always do the impossible.

Yesterdays game against Cubs in London was the first I ever saw of Baseball... ever. So as I said to friends this is now my teams I have to support till the end!!! 😅

Its been an extremely painful year

Can you do the Mariners next? :D

Please do one on the reds, I’m an angels fan but I have to admit what they’re doing there is special. Would love to see you do a deep dive on them! Love your videos! Huge fan!! You’ve taught me so much about the game.

Dude I would never count the Cardinals out. Just go back and look at the COVID season.

I noticed right at the first series hosting toronto that fielder positioning was not at an acceptable level this year (understandably so with the rule change on the shift). Then add that most teams are going to be running again against the Cards because no Yadi and the bases getting larger. We were ALWAYS going to give up more runs. The big change though is the cardinals have been a defensive emphasis team first for a very long time now. Outlawing the shift and not having coaching staff that are experienced enough to adjust throughout the season is what caused this. When you look at the sabermetric numbers on the pitching staff, they can easily be league average or slightly above. The bats are singing, but being asked to do too much. Sucks to be Oli, Contreras, Waino, Mikolas, Goldy, Montgomery, Hicks or Arenado right now. Especially Oli as, honestly, he made the case for his firing with the O'Neill debacle early on this season. We also fired managers that have winning records. Those two things alone pretty much guarantee the outcome. How he isn't gone already is a miracle but I imagine he will be gone after the season ends and somebody else in the org already will step up.

This team constantly finds ways to make magic at their lowest point... I fully expect them to make the playoffs still.

I just found this video after attending the Cardinals vs Marlins in Miami. Cardinals got spanked 15-2. They suck this year.

Today Hicks absolutely blew a win…. we need a new pitcher for f*** sake!

your broken ... this channel is amazing

Thank you cardinals 🙏 💙 let's go braves

a team with talent, if they bring out the brinks truck and carefully select high prospects to acquire 2-3 plus starting pitchers, revitalize the pitching philosophy centered around leadership with willy and arenado along with winn, gorman and jwalk blooming and trading goldy for an ace. next year could be interesting

I traveled 7 hours to watch the Angels play the Cards in St. Louis earlier this year. I expected my Angels to lose. We came back and won game 2 while I watched in the hotel room and the game I went to we scored 10 runs. I knew at that point the Cards would be terrible this year.

Maybe the Cardinals should've addressed their rotation instead of relying on injured/old/inconsistent pitchers. Yes, Contreras hasn't helped much, but the problem goes way deeper than him. You gotta wonder how long till Oli Marmol gets the boot. The dude is somehow worse than Mike Matheny.

I got a feeling this team going to be around the same at the deadline sell just a little bit and somehow find a wildcard spot

How the Cards didn't make certain Molina was part of the team in 2023 is baffling.

I honestly think they need to bring Yadi back as their manager. Without Yadi there, it's starting to look more like management had less to do with their successful 20-year run.

As a Brewers fan, I appreciate the LLLLLLLs that they've been getting very much... unfortunately... my team isn't that great either... also I don't appreciate the Reds having all this damn talent

As a cards fan I can say there is a strong distaste for John mozalok. He makes promises that are never close to kept

I don't know what to say I'm a ranger fan. We've been one of the best teams in baseball so.

Feel bad for Contreras. Clearly the fall guy for a poorly-managed team that just punted on pitching for no reason. Their two best pitchers are still pitching well, but Wainright is 41 and they let Quintana walk with zero replacement plan. Half of your rotation is players who had ERA+ below 100 last year and your pitching is bad? Must be that darn catcher. Couldn't be that half our rotation is below-average pitchers.

Pretty good video. They have a decent chance because they are in the nl central. My main issue is that they rely alot on home runs. We are either 0 runs or 7. We either get 0 home runs or a few.

I'm praying for them & they have to work on offense and defense not just some games all of the games if they can do that then things will change

The Mets are more broken imo. Both have awful pitching it’s an easy explanation

Cubs fan here, seeing the cardinals struggling and specifically Contreras struggling after the remarks he made about the org, it’s a beautiful sight to behold. Not that the cubs are much better, but at least they weren’t really expected to be

As a Braves never count the Cards out until the math says it. Does seem like something is up in the clubhouse.

The Cardinals have an abundance of talented outfielders and should be able to package together to acquire the starting pitching they need. The Padres and the Met's should be ready to deal. The best thing the Cards have going is that they are in the weakest division in the NL and could make a run if they make the moves soon. This next week will tell a lot facing HOU & NYY.

The Cubs dumped Contreras, Baez, and Bryant perfectly. Even back to Starlin Castro, they've made some hard goodbyes look good. Also, Cuck the Fardinals.

This team has been on a downtrend for years. Papering over the cracks by fleecing NL West non contenders for their best players and taking advantage of a division that only has 1-2 other teams actively trying to win at any given moment. Going into the season, my expectations were to basically repeat last season. Walk to a division win, get smashed by a good/hot ball club, and recycle. The unfortunate part is that the front office will see this as a blip on the radar that can be self corrected with minimal intervention, when it's really the Cardinals staring at the abyss of mediocrity for the next 3 years. Things won't change until ratings and attendance fall, maybe.

surprised you didn't talk about how backwards the thought of putting Contreras in DH/outfield was when they have such a surplus of outfielders in their system that they had to send Jordan Walker down a mere 10 days after his historic hit streak to start his career ended. especially when the replacements they had at catcher weren't even better than him defensively and certainly not offensively. such horrible mistreatment of the situation from a PR and development standpoint. so many things that should have been kept behind closed doors. so much pedantic BS that Marmol is airing out and forcing players to be the adults in the argument with.

This is 100% a successful career! He didn’t have the longevity as some of the greatest pitchers , but man…. Give him 99 in clutch during that 2006-2008 year span. And early in his junior Days!

next video I suggest you do it to my mets too as how bad they are

Losing 14-0 at home,definetly low point of season,too far down even in Central to come back!!

Losing Yadi hurt but the Cardinals DER went from #2 (2 years ago) in the NL to last this year. Their OPS is 4th but actual runs scored is middle of the pack. Pitching is a 3 to 1 SO to BB ratio and Cardinal pitchers do not strike out very many. If you have pitchers who put the ball in play and you have the worst DER in the league its pretty simple you will give up a ton of runs AND THEY DO. I believe the biggest need is team speed. It started with giving up Bader although it seems most of the Cardinals seem to be injury prone but maybe every team has this many guys on the DL or with nagging injuries. Losing Wong was a bad decision too as he has always been one of the best at saving runs defensively. Yadi was great with pitchers and kept guys at first or he picked them off. The stolen base numbers vs the Cards for the last decade and a half was ridiculously low a bigger gap from 1 to 2 than 2 to 12 I think and Yadi had us #1. We have lost a lot of what makes a team win over the last couple of years including a pretty good manager and its time to rectify that. Fire the mgr look to add team speed and improve DER back over .700 and find some pitchers with control that can strike out more than 8 per 9 IP. Hopefully we won't be doing what the White Sox have done for years and slog along with no ability to identify what wins championships. The Rays get it and they compete with the big money teams.

New nickname for pitcher Wainwright. They use to call him “Waino” now they should call him “One-O” because he only has one good inning a game

The issue is John Mozeliak and Bill DeWitt Jr. The cardinals fans with brains were saying the pitching is trash, going into this season. We said the cardinals need multiple multiple pitchers, we needed an ace and a top tier second man, then the pitchers on the team would have an alpha and be able to overperform as 3s 4s and 5s. Instead as 1s and 2s they are awful. The cardinals need to trade every pitcher on the roster except waino. But they sit complacent.

Before the start of the season, I had the Cardinals finishing 94-68. This would win them the NL Central. Now I have them not even getting .500 at 78-84.

Positive regression = progression 😉⚾️

Just hire Yadi as GM, the Cards will have 100 wins if they do that

I know it might come out overly positive if you did this, but can you do one on the Dodgers consistent ability to be a good baseball team? Please and Thank you.

You know it’s bad when a legendary pitcher that has stayed with a team for years says they keep finding ways to lose.

it’s been hard 😂😂😂😂

The clock has messed up alot of players and it seems more of Dominican players are affected the most

Marmols days are numbered

Why does Marmol keep batting Contreras 4, 5 or 6? I just don't understand that logic...

John Mozeliak and Bill DeWitt III squandered the success they inherited from the TLR/Dewitt Jr era and they have no clue what to do about it. Their plan even in good years now is to be mediocre and hope to get lucky in the playoffs.

As a Cubs fan I’m just waiting for them to get hot at the end. It’ll suck and it’s inevitable.

Dreading the "Mets are also broken" video... also worth noting that they knew Quintana was hurt and has pitched 0 games thus far

It's almost like you can't suck in 2 of the 3 important phases of the game and expect to do well.

You cannot bet against the cardinals. The Cardinals usually have that mid or late season magic, they need to get hit later than late.

Get Pujols and Molina to unretire immediately. They can still save the season...

Remember what happened to the Cincinnati Reds the year prior to 2023. They're good again

I know it's easier to see with hindsight, but Goldy is a year older, and they lost their biggest culture guy in Yadier, who set the tone for them forever. I mean, they go from god tier defense at the most important defensive position, to not even realistically being able to match that. They lack identity, and the guys who were killing it for them last year, being MVP candidates, aren't MVP candidates this year. They have to restructure the team and find a new signature, and they'll be back sooner rather than later I'd bet.

They need a new manager

don't know why cards fans think this season is salvageable, reds are running away with the division and cards just don't have enough starting pitching and clutch/timely hitting to dig themselves out

They just don't have any WOW players. Yadi retiring hurt them to the core.

Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. Dysfunctional management and waaaaaaaay too tight purse strings.

Molina was a really good defensive catcher and handler of pitchers. Does this make him HOF worthy?

As a Reds fan this brings me joy.

My man said that like the Cardinals are 3 games out. How is 11 1/2 games back in late June not “insurmountable“? 😂

As a cardinals fan watching the reds on their streak is going to kill us

Blaming Wilson Contreras for their problems is the act of weak minded, mediocre talented pitchers who, instead of taking responsibility, blamed someone else.

if it wasn't for the Reds insane win streak out of nowhere, the Cards would be just 8 games back and still doing OK. I do still have hope. It's still a weak division.

THE YANKEES ARE BROKEN AS WELL!!! WHAT HAPPENED??? 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Team era was actualy slightly worse when Contreras was dh during that span

This is so satisfying to me as a Cubs fan. I’ve heard so much shit for sucking through the years and now they’re crying because of one bad season.

And MO will just sit on his hands and not change anything

So hard to feel sorry for the Cardinals…..even a little.

As a Reds fan I could not be happier