Just this week alone, two former Cardinals who landed in Toronto had been going through tough times. Jordan Hicks, despite being allegedly one of the best pieces of the deadline, has a 5.14 ERA and 2 losses. Paul deJong, whose trade was meant to fill the void during Bo Bichette's injury, had an atrocious couple weeks as a Blue Jay, and hit .068, with 3 hits and one RBI in 3 games, despite STARTING. Now DeJong is a free agent, Bichette has been recalled, perhaps prematurely, and the Jays are trying to forget the whole thing even happened.
Which means that even the Cardinals that don't have to play for the Cardinals anymore are having a rough go of things this year.
Austin Gomber might be a pretty good example of all this. When he was dealt by the Cardinals in exchange for Nolan Arenado, he was still a pretty highly-regarded arm, and a great starter that didn't have room to impress. Suffice to say, with all the injuries to the Rockies' rotation this year, Gomber's gotten all the opportunities he's wanted, but he's got a 5.52 ERA, and leads the league in earned runs with 80. As messy as things have been for people like Matthew Liberatore or Adam Wainwright, at least they don't have to pitch in Coors Field every week.
I went through the other teams and looked at some other struggling ex-Cardinals trying to get through 2023:
Angels: Randal Grichuk was dealt to Anaheim as a competitive bolster. He's currently hitting .167 in 17 games, and his Rockies years feel like ages ago.
A's: Aledmys Diaz was signed to be one of the pillars of a rebuilding squad after years of backing up Altuve in Houston. Diaz instead is hitting .220 with 17 RBIs in 90 games. Thrilling.
Diamondbacks: Former Cardinals farmhand Carson Kelly had the starting catching position all wrapped up, then he got injured, came back and Gabriel Moreno was doing it better than he could. After being DFA'd, Kelly is now looking like a catching option for the Tigers. And while Tommy Pham isn't playing badly per se after joining the D-Backs, he apparently got snippy with a fan recently, and could wind up in somebody's doghouse.
Mariners: The Mariners traded for Kolten Wong, thinking he'd be a winning addition to the competitive squad. Wong handed in his worst season yet, hitting .165 with 19 RBIs in 65 games before being released. Wong is now looking to be the latest 2023 lost cause to be rehabilitated by the Dodgers' coaching staff. Meanwhile, Marco Gonzales has a disappointing, injury-addled year, with a 5.22 ERA in his few healthy starts.
Orioles: Jack Flaherty's O's tenure got off to a good start, then teams just started beating him up. His ERA is 7.07 after 3 starts with Baltimore, and hopefully he'll improve.
Padres: It has begun clear that whatever sorcery Matt Carpenter got up to in New York must have had a time limit, as he's back to his futile, sub-.200-hitting self in San Diego, hitting .165 in 68 games as DH.
Pirates: Johan Oviedo had a promising start as a high-tier starting pitcher in Pittsburgh, but as the team fell apart, so did Oviedo's numbers. He now holds a 4.55 ERA, and a 6-13 record. Still one of the team's stronger performers, but not a statistical high point for the young pitcher.
Reds: As more Reds pitchers got hurt, Luke Weaver's presence in the rotation got more and more important. Finally, after 21 starts and a 6.87 ERA, the Reds cut ties with the former Cardinals starter, and Weaver's currently looking for work.
It's not an overwhelming amount, but it's more common than you might think, and even if the Cardinals will eventually rebound, as they tend to, it's at least proof that members of the organization are hurting all over.
Coming Tonight: A hitter for a team that, despite their last place status, actually looks kinda decent.
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