I sent out to see what the loyal readers of I-70 and fans of Cardinal Nation wanted to know or ask about the current state of the Cardinals. Admittedly, I asked this prior to the All-Star break when St. Louis appeared poised to make an improbable playoff run, so I decided to spin one of the questions into a theoretical as well as a glimpse towards the future.

I hope to make this a central piece to I-70 and social media, so be on the lookout for more opportunities to ask your questions that I will be much quicker at answering next time around! This was done via Bluesky for the first iteration but I’ll bring it to the other socials as we move along. My request is to follow and interact with as many Cardinal fans as you can on socials! I’d rather build a community of fans instead of competing for clicks and engagement! And with that, here’s our first ever Cardinals Q & A!

From Normal Person (cpeanut on Bluesky):

Do you think the Cardinals should move in the walls? If they’re not going to ever pay a real power hitter then why not?

What a fun question to kick things off! The Cardinals are notoriously sapped of power this year with Willson Contreras and Alec Burleson tied for the team-lead in long balls. While those two names are not surprising to see at the top, it is disappointing to realize that their lead is a measly 14 big flies. That total puts them tied for 79th-place on the homerun leaderboard

As a team, the Cardinals sit with 105 homers which is 22nd in all of MLB. Weirdly enough, that total is above the first-place Brewers, the evenly matched Giants, and the Wild Card-leading Padres. Part of this could be because of the traditionally pitcher-friendly ballpark that Busch Stadium III is known as. Statcast measures back that up as Busch is ranked 22nd in terms of being homer-happy. According to the environmental park factors on Baseball Savant, the ball has traveled 1.5 feet shorter than average in St. Louis. Is this the park or is it the complete lack of power in the lineup?

Probably a little of both. Since 2021, the Cardinals rank 16th in baseball in homers and are right near that spot in both runs and RBIs as the rest of the league has started to push towards power. In that 5 year span, St. Louis only has two players above 100 homeruns and they are Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman. Next on the list? Nolan Gorman with a Chip Caray-esque 69 long balls. So, will the Cardinals consider some fence moving? Not that I’ve heard but that doesn’t mean much.

Camden Yards has twice moved their fences since 2022 and they’ve altered to their newest alignment with closer but higher fences. The Cardinals brass seems to pride themselves on being a net-even ballpark in terms of pitching and hitting, so moving the fences may not be on the horizon. With money allocated towards player development, I see the ballpark as falling lower on the list of priorities.

The second part of that question leads me to the next submission. The Cardinals don’t spend on offense, maybe it’s time they should.

From Kyle Eden (dragonlord741 on Bluesky/Twitter)

Which do you think would be more helpful to this season’s team to enable a potentially deep playoff run? A top end starter (at least as good as Sonny or a big right handed bat (someone similar to say a Jose Ramirez for Cleveland or Taylor Ward for the angels maybe?)

Kyle is a connection I love going back and forth with on both Bluesky and Twitter so I apologize for not getting to this until the Cardinals decided to punt on the season.

I’ll first answer this question for what he was asking at the time it was asked and then I’ll look at it from the bigger picture for the future. At the time of the question, the Cardinals were (and honestly are still) in need of some pop going back to Normal Person’s question. He specifically mentioned Taylor Ward who I also agree would have been a perfect fit for the lineup, especially at a time when Alec Burleson was struggling and Ivan Herrera was on the shelf for the second time this season. I also floated the name of Brent Rooker and Luis Robert Jr. as guys I thought could be a buy now but also for the future due to team control but those never seemed like a real possibility with the unknown future of the team after Chaim Bloom takes over next year.

I still think power is the main issue along with the mass amounts of left-handed bats floating through all levels of the organization but last night’s lineup change put Herrera in left field for the first time in his career. While I agree with this move and see this as something that can stick for the rest of the year into next, it does not do much to clear up the other spots of the roster. Thomas Saggese got the start at third with Arenado out but I feel like the Cardinals would like to give Gorman (another lefty) that run but he’s on the injured list along with Lars Nootbaar (lefty). JJ Wetherholt (lefty) keeps dominating whatever level he’s at and St. Louis also appears happy to give Victor Scott II (lefty) as much runway in center while Brendan Donovan (lefty) takes most of his starts at second.

The best answer I have for Kyle’s question is that the upcoming Trade Deadline should take their expiring contracts and depth pieces and try to backfill some of those holes. Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton seem to be locks to be traded but it is tough to gauge year to year what the reliever market will return. Helsley is now the hottest reliever on the market due to Emmanuel Clase’s gambling investigation so it’s possible he can bring back some real talent. Along with the relievers, I don’t see the Cardinals moving on from any other cost-controlled arms due to the poor performance, expiring contracts, and minor league injuries in the current pitching group. A bonafide ace is needed for sure. Sonny Gray is a great ace… for the current Cardinals team. That’s not saying anything spectacular for this bunch but he is also a quality number two on other teams. If the Cardinals want an actual stopper in the rotation, they will have to either pay big money in the offseason, or deal high-level prospects, something they are not in a place to do at this moment.

That brings up the Cardinals positions of depth as something I think they should consider dealing from. Stop if you’ve heard this so far but lefty bats are something they need to possibly send elsewhere for more pitching or that righty power. Brendan Donovan has been floated as one of those pieces but the Cardinals’ price is unsurprisingly sky-high. I am honestly indifferent about trading Donovan because I see it from both sides. If they deal him, I think it has to be for a cost-controlled major league starter and at least one Top-100 prospect along with an organization’s top-10 prospect. Beyond Donovan, the outfield group, especially Lars Nootbaar, could be offered up but Noot’s latest injury all but prevents him from being moved this year. Gorman, like Noot, is injured and underperforming so I don’t think the Cardinals will look to sell low on him.

Finally, the catching group. Touted as one of the best and deepest minor league positions in all of the league, the Cardinals appear set for the future behind the plate. However, only one catcher can play at a time and this is a current problem for St. Louis. Pedro Pages has been atrocious as a starting catcher and Yohel Pozo has done exactly what was needed as the second option. Jimmy Crooks III (lefty) is next in line and won the organization’s MVP award last season. I personally would love to see Crooks get the call and either Pages or Pozo dealt for an out of options pitcher. Crooks would get some time to develop before getting handed the starting job next year. If he falters, then Leonardo Bernal and Rainiel Rodriguez, who both profile as better than Crooks, are next in line.

Thank you to Normal Person and Kyle for sending in the first two submissions to I-70’s reader Q & A. Like I mentioned, I would love to do this every couple of weeks and may do another after the Trade Deadline. Take a look on my personal Twitter/Bluesky as well as I-70’s pages for the chance to submit your questions!