St. Louis

Cardinals

Ward spent one year as the Cardinals’ assistant hitting coach before taking over the primary role in 2023. He’s also served as a hitting coach with the Dodgers, D-backs and Reds.

John Mozeliak will get one more year to run the ship with the Cardinals as the team transitions to Bloom. Next year, Bloom will oversee a reset of the Cardinals’ player development system and president Bill DeWitt Jr. said the team “will be making significant new investments in staffing, programs, and infrastructure, beginning immediately and continuing for years to come.” Bloom drew plenty of criticism over his time in Boston for trading Mookie Betts at the outset of his tenure; however, it’s believed by many that he was pressured to do that by the front office and he also rebuilt the Red Sox farm system into one of the best in the league. It remains to be seen what kind of budget he will be given in St. Louis, but his track record in developing minor league talent is well proven.

What an end to the season by McGreevy. Eight innings marked the longest outing of his young career and his slider, sinker combo was lethal against right-handed batters. All in all, he forced a swing-and-miss with five different pitches and looked very comfortable mixing each of them in. The Cardinals have some expected openings in their 2025 rotation and McGreevy will likely compete for a spot in spring training.

Donovan was the Cardinals’ engine in this one. He homered in the third inning to break a 0-0 tie and then hit an RBI single in the fifth that started the domino effect to chase Giants’ starter Hayden Birdsong. Donovan wound up with a fine season as a full-time starter with 14 home runs and a .278/.342/.417 slash line.

Goldschmidt will be a free agent for the first time in his career, and unfortunately the 37-year-old hits the market with career worsts of a .245 average and .713 OPS. There likely will still be interest in the former MVP, but at his age and considering his lack of production in 2024, it may not be as fruitful as he hopes. The Astros make some sense here as a team that needs a first baseman, and Goldschmidt is from Texas.

Goldschmidt had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and an RBI groundout in the fifth inning. He’s hitting .245 with a .713 OPS and 64 RBI on the year and all of those marks are single-season career-worsts for Goldschmidt.

Pallante gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out four. He ends the season 8-8 with a 3.78 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 94 strikeouts in 121 1/3 innings. Pallante was technically a swingman this year as he made 20 starts and nine relief appearances, but it’s likely that he was good enough to earn a spot in the St. Louis rotation to start 2025.

Nootbaar’s home run was his 12th of the year. He hit a solo shot off Landen Roupp in the third inning. The Cardinals rallied in the inning and Nootbaar capped it off with a two-run triple. While he had a slow start to the year after returning from injury, he’s ending the year on a high note hitting .323 with four home runs and 16 RBI in September.

Arenado had an RBI single in the first inning and scored in the fourth inning on a ground-rule double. With two games left in the season, Arenado’s 16 home runs are his lowest total since his rookie year.

Helsley’s save was his 49th of the season. He struck out two batters and lowered his ERA to 2.04 on the season in the process. With two games left in the year, he’s on the precipice of a 50-save season.