Why Cardinals May Run into Problems with Pitching Staff

Apr 22, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Leahy (62) delivers a pitch against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Why Cardinals May Run into Problems with Pitching Staff

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Curt Bishop | Last updated Apr 23, 2026 1:00 PM ET

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The St. Louis Cardinals have been off to a much better start this season than expected. They are 14-10 through their first 24 games and are right in the thick of the National League Central race, which is also more competitive than it was originally predicted to be.

They just lost a series to the Miami Marlins, but have shown a lot of promise early on, and if that continues, it could be a very fun summer in St. Louis.

However, they may have a fatal flaw. Brenden Schaeffer of MLB.com explained that the pitching could be the team's kryptonite and why that is.

"I guess the question is, can this pitch-to-contact staff which is going to rank 30th out of 30 in MLB strikeout total end up pitching to enough softer contact and play to the defense behind them to keep in these games the way that they have," Schaeffer said.

Cardinals Pitching Could Be Major Weakness

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The big problem the Cardinals could face is that their pitching staff doesn't strike a lot of hitters out. In today's day and age, being able to generate swings and misses is important. While the Cardinals have a great defense, it may not be sustainable to simply rely on it.

The Cardinals come into Thursday with 154 strikeouts as a pitching staff, which is the lowest total in the league. They also have a 4.77 team ERA, have walked 97 batters and allowed teams to hit .257 against them.

The bullpen has walked 55 batters, which is the third-most in the league. Allowing walks and pitching to contact could ultimately prove to be a major problem for St. Louis.

That means more baserunners and more opportunities for the opposition to score runs. Eventually, that could bring the Cardinals down a little bit. Their offense can only do so much to keep them in games, but if they can't start striking out more hitters and avoiding walks, then they could be in some big trouble as the season progresses.

It will be interesting to see where the Cardinals end up later in the season. They need to correct certain issues on the pitching side if they want their hot start to continue. They cannot simply rely on pitching to contact all the time to get outs.

At a certain point, opposing teams may be able to take advantage of that weakness and ultimately exploit it.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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