In St. Louis, the vibes have reached an all-time low.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals suffered another heartbreaking loss, this time 3-2. That loss moved them to 61-64 on the season, 7-12 since the trade deadline, and 6.0 games behind the third Wild Card slot in the NL. Their season is very definitely ended, unless they go on a run similar to 2021.
While Tuesday’s loss was undoubtedly disappointing, the most significant news story of the day had nothing to do with the game. Before the game, the Cardinals made a number of roster changes, including demoting Jordan Walker back to the minors. That’s accurate, they sent him down eight days after his recall.
The explanation provided by John Mozeliak made some sense. It comes down to playing time.
“My belief has always been that if you’re a young player, you should play. “I always cringe at the thought of someone 22 years old sitting on the bench,” Mozeliak admitted.
Walker was promoted only to receive 11 at-bats in eight days, all as a platoon player against his weaker side. Despite what looked to be a clear misunderstanding between Mozeliak and manager Oli Marmol about Walker’s playing time, there was no communication breakdown here. Mozeliak and Marmol agreed to play Walker in a platoon position for a short time before sending him back down. That makes Mozeliak’s explanation for the entire scenario seem much worse.
Even in desperate times, John Mozeliak is struggling to field a winner
Here is the situation. The Cardinals placed Matt Carpenter on the injured list with what was believed to be a mild ailment. He would return from the IL after at least ten days. Because they were scheduled to face three left-handed pitchers over the next week of games, the Cardinals sought a right-handed bat to complement their left-handed order. The Athletic’s Katie Woo said that their alternatives were Walker, Luken Baker, and Jose Fermin.
The Cardinals chose Walker for several reasons. First, he is an outfielder, and Woo stated that the organization preferred to promote an outfielder to increase lineup versatility. Second, he was swinging a hot bat in Triple-A, performing as well as he had all season. Perhaps he could have maintained that at the MLB level for a week, providing a much-needed spark to the languishing Cardinals.
Obviously, this idea flopped terribly, and it made little sense to begin with. Walker has always been a superior hitter against right-handed pitchers, but the team promoted him to play primarily against lefties on a part-time basis. Walker had one hit in 11 at-bats before being sent down. St. Louis could have (and eventually did) promoted Luken Baker, a player who has dominated left-handed pitching in the minors this year, but they chose the hot hand out of desperation.
The Cardinals put victory above everything else. They’re a desperate squad that’s slipping further behind in the postseason chase with each passing day. The problem is that the move they made out of desperation never made sense, the team is further out of it than they were before, and they did exactly what Mozeliak said makes him “cringe” in the process by promoting a 21-year-old former top prospect to mostly sit on the bench, as if the front office did not have complete control over the situation.
To summarize, the Cardinals lost ground, watched Walker seem overmatched yet again in a role that never made sense for him, most certainly destroyed his confidence even more, and demonstrated that even in desperate times, they can’t win. Tuesday’s loss was frustrating, but their treatment of Walker, once one of the game’s finest prospects, was even more so. Even in terrible times, the Cardinals can’t get out of their own way, and Mozeliak is primarily responsible.
