Cardinals face fork in the road after D-backs sweep them and trade deadline looms

New York Times

3 days ago

Major League Baseball's All-Star break is designed to give teams some much-needed time off ahead of what is usually a mad dash through the final two months of the season. It's a chance to reset and refocus after nearly 100 games, with contending teams ready to start making their competitive push coming out of it.
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Apparently, the St. Louis Cardinals missed the memo.
The Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Cardinals to kick off the second half of the season in three virtually non-competitive ball games. Andre Pallante was tagged for six runs (five earned) in the first three innings of Friday's loss. Sonny Gray served up nine runs (eight earned) and 11 hits over 3 1/3 innings on Saturday and Miles Mikolas allowed five earned runs in four innings in Sunday's series finale. St. Louis dropped to two games over .500 and fell to 3 1/2 games out of the final National League wild card spot. Their competitive chances are dwindling as the July 31 trade deadline looms.
Shh our favorite show is on. pic.twitter.com/dGSCF7EHuG
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 20, 2025
President of baseball operations John Mozeliak has long said he won't rush into trade deadline plans, that he hopes he has tough decisions to make and that he's prepared to wait until days before the deadline before definitely deciding on a direction. The way the Cardinals are playing, though, might make such decisions much easier for him.
St. Louis has lost 11 of its 14 games in July. Its starting pitching has faltered completely — the rotation owns a collective ERA of above 7.20 since July 1. Though Iván Herrera and Jordan Walker are off the injured list, the Cardinals are still without two regulars in Lars Nootbaar (left costochondral sprain) and Nolan Gorman (back pain). Nootbaar landed on the 10-day injured list the day before the All-Star break, after attempting to play through rib pain for two weeks. Gorman was also unavailable that game due to back tightness, but was hopeful the break would give him time to recover. That ended up not being the case; Gorman was a late scratch for Friday's game and went on the IL the following day.
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The Cardinals will also skip Matthew Liberatore's first scheduled start out of the break, citing a need for extended rest. Monitoring Liberatore's innings will be a focal point going forward, as the 25-year-old pitches through his first full major-league season as a starter. He's already logged over 100 innings this year, surpassing last year's total of 86, and is on track to set a new career-high in innings pitched. He'll make his next start on Saturday at Busch Stadium against the San Diego Padres.
Michael McGreevy will spot start for Liberatore on Monday in the first of three games against the Colorado Rockies. Erick Fedde will start Tuesday, with Pallante tabbed for Wednesday. There is an internal desire to keep McGreevy in the rotation after this turn, though the organization is not yet sure how to configure that. A six-man rotation is not under consideration at this time. The Cardinals are shopping starting pitcher Erick Fedde, and will continue to do so regardless of whether they buy or sell.
That's why Fedde will remain in the rotation for the time being. Starting pitching remains a dire need for many contending teams, and while Fedde's 3-9 record and 4.93 ERA aren't particularly attractive, his health is. Fedde's value lies in his availability, and he has yet to miss a start this year. If the Cardinals suddenly begin skipping his starts, opposing teams might start raising some red flags. The club believes there is somewhat of a market for Fedde, who is in the final year of his contract and is due less than $3 million for the remainder of the season. In order to reach that market, Fedde has to pitch.
Other pitchers may be made available as well, depending on how the next week goes. Mozeliak stated in early July that there would be some hesitancy in trading away players from his bullpen if the Cardinals remained in contention. Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and Phil Maton will all be free agents at the end of the year. All three have been instrumental in locking down wins in late innings. All three could also find themselves suddenly available depending on the next week of play.
'Right now, I don't think we have intentions of (trading relievers),' Mozeliak said on July 4. 'But again, we'll see where we're at.'
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Where the Cardinals are currently is a grim position. They remain in contention by the definition of the word, but they have shown little to no signs of being able to string together a truly competitive second half. As their transition season continues, St. Louis has finally found itself at a fork in the road. Should it retain talent and hope for a late summer miracle? Alternatively, should the Cardinals stick to their established plan and continue building for the future?
The next six days will all but answer those questions.
(Photo of Miles Mikolas: Norm Hall / Getty Images)