St. Louis Cardinals' best-case and worst-case scenarios for 2024 season
By Bill Felber
Cardinals' Worst-Case Scenario for 2024
The nightmare scenario in St. Louis begins with the medical reports on Gray’s hamstring. A healthy Gray plainly charts out at the top of the Cardinal rotation. His loss for any meaningful period of time would be a first-order concern.
Then there’s the question of just what the Cardinals bought when they signed Lynn and Gibson. Lynn has been an innings eater, but he’s 37 and coming off a bad 2023. Gibson is 36 and coming off consecutive bad seasons with the Phillies and Orioles. If they replicate their 2023 performances, the Cardinals rotation is in big trouble.
Beyond that, the Cardinals' need Arenado’s lukewarm 2023 numbers – a .266 average, .774 OPS and 109 OPS+ -- to be an aberration rather than a trend. That might be an open question; he’s 33, an age that is basically the end point of a player’s usual peak performance level. Goldschmidt was more productive last year, but he’ll be 36.