The St. Louis Cardinals struggled to keep a full rotation in 2021 but, after signing Steven Matz, they could shore up everything with one move.
While the St. Louis Cardinals obviously played well enough to make it to the postseason last year — even if they were bounced immediately — there were some clear problems with the roster that need to be addressed heading into the 2022 season.
Perhaps the most glaring of those issues, though, was with the starting pitching. Outside of Adam Wainwright, injuries and inconsistency marred the rotation for the Redbirds throughout the campaign. This was clearly something that the front office recognized and went out to ink Steven Matz this offseason prior to the lockout.
That puts the Cardinals rotation looking like it will be some order of Matz, Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Wainwright and Dakota Hudson. There are other like Matthew Liberatore, Johan Oviedo, Alex Reyes and Jake Woodford that could see starts as well.
But given what this team experienced last year, they could stand to make one more move to shore up the rotation. What that move should be is quite obvious to anyone looking for it.
Cardinals signing Clayton Kershaw would fix rotation for 2022
Prior to the lockout, Clayton Kershaw wasn’t connected to the Cardinals in any meaningful capacity. In fact, the three most likely options for the 33-year-old southpaw were the Dodgers, Rangers or retirement.
However, the Cardinals would make sense as a dark horse. He’s certainly not the all-world hurler that he once was but he could be a valuable cog in the pitching staff in St. Louis.
For one, getting another leftie in the rotation in any kind of capacity could be helpful given that newcomer Matz is the only one of the bunch. On top of that, given the recent injuries of guys like Flaherty, Mikolas and Hudson, depth is of the utmost importance. And if that wasn’t enough, we’re still talking about an extremely good player here, especially with depth allowing the luxury to limit his innings.
Given how St. Louis finished the regular season last year, hopes should be high for their ceiling. To reach that mark, though, the club has to shore up the rotation. And Clayton Kershaw could very much be the remedy for any woes they’re feeling.