THE REDBIRD REVIEW
I want to go with something positive today, and it’s not because I’m being a softy, or a Cardinals’ apologist, or scanning the cloudy sky for a ray of hope.
The Cards are 74-72, and won’t be in the postseason tournament, and the ownership and management has a helluva lot of work to do in the coming offseason. This trend of mediocrity must come to an end.
But when a team is having a so-so season, I don’t believe in trashing everything and ignoring or denying the quality performances in a fit of childish spite. If something is good, I’ll write about it. Talk about it. Do videos about it.
The Cardinals bullpen isn’t just good in 2024.
It’s been great.
And frankly, I don’t think this has received enough attention. The Cardinals have one star position player, Masyn Winn. And the Cards have only one area of the team that has starred – and that would be the kick-ass bullpen.
Let’s look at the St. Louis bullpen and where their relievers stand among the 29 teams that have represented the franchise since Bill DeWitt Jr. purchased the business in 1996 …
– ERA: 3.65, 10th of 29
– Fielding Independent ERA: 3.81, 5th of 29
– Win Probability Added: 5th of 29.
– Relief shutdowns: 148, 4th of 29
And then there’s the rather serious matter of protecting late leads. The 2024 Cardinals are 56-3 when leading a game through seven innings. That winning percentage of .949 ranks 6th among the 28 full seasons under DeWitt.
When leading a game through eight innings, the ‘24 Cardinals are 60-1 for a .984 winning percentage that ranks fourth in a full season. The current group is one of only four DeWitt Era bullpens to lose just one game after taking a lead into the ninth.
These stats entail extra-innings games won by the Cards despite squandering a late lead. But that same standard applies to every St. Louis bullpen since 1996, so this is hardly a doctored stat.
And some of the individual accomplishments are notable and worthy of praise:
RYAN HELSLEY: He’s MLB leader with 44 saves, and is making a run at the top-three number of saves by Cards relievers since the start of 1996. The closers ahead of Helsley are Trevor Rosenthal with 48 in 2015), Jason Isringhausen with 45 in 2004, and Rosenthal with 45 in 2014.
But Izzy and Rosey piled up those saves on teams that won more games than the 2024 Cardinals – a reality that created more save opportunities for them. That makes Helsley’s 44 closures even more impressive. He’s blown only four saves all season. Among the relievers that have racked at least 44 saves in a season during the DeWitt Era, Helsley’s current save rate (91.6%) was topped only by Rosenthal (94.1%) in 2015.
Helsley’s Win Probability Added rating is the best by a St. Louis reliever in a season since DeWitt became the chairman in 1996. And on a side note, Helsley also has the second-highest WPA over the 29 seasons. That came in 2022.
If we include the Whitey Herzog Era, the only two relievers who had a higher WPA in a season than Helsley does this year were Bruce Sutter in 1984, and Jeff Lahti in 1985. And since 1982, Helsley’s current 2.0 WAR is tied for fifth most by a Redbird reliever.
SETUP MEN: Helsley’s two primary shutdown partners – Andrew Kittredge and JoJo Romero, rank second and sixth in the majors (respectively) in most holds. Kittredge’s current total of 33 holds rank second for most holds by a Cardinal reliever in a season since 1982. Mitchell Boggs had 34 in 2012.
BULLPEN DOMINATED THE REDS: The St. Louis bullpen prowess was on full display in the Cardinals’ series win over the Reds. In the three games, St. Louis relievers faced 38 hitters and pitched 11 scoreless innings. Kittredge, Helsley, Romero, John King, Matthew Liberatore, Ryan Fernandez and Chris Roycroft held the Reds to three hits (all singles) and two walks for an .083 average and .132 onbase percentage. And they combined for a 26 percent strikeout rate.
WHERE THE BULLPEN STANDS NOW: At the conclusion of the Reds series the St. Louis bullpen ranked first in the majors in saves, first in shutdowns, seventh in WPA, seventh in ERA and sixth in Fielding Independent ERA.
It’s a shame that the front office couldn’t put a better starting rotation and offense together to give the 2024 relievers more chances to preserve wins and put more saves in the bag.
Cardinals starting pitchers rank 23rd in the majors with a 4.48 ERA and the team’s offense is 24th with an average of 4.11 runs scored per game.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a fantastic weekend …
–Bernie
A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.
Please check out the new Bernie Miklasz Show channel on YouTube. And thank you for subscribing. Here’s the link: @TheBernieShow
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For weekly Cards talk, listen to the “Seeing Red” podcast with Will Leitch and Miklasz. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or where you get your podcasts. Follow @seeingredpod on X for a direct link.
Stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Statcast, StatHead, Baseball Savant, Baseball Prospectus, Brooks Baseball Net, and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise noted.
For the last 36 years Bernie Miklasz has entertained, enlightened, and connected with generations of St. Louis sports fans.
While best known for his voice as the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch for 26 years, Bernie has also written for The Athletic, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore News American. A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has hosted radio shows in St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore and Washington D.C.
Bernie, his wife Kirsten and their cats reside in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis.
