Maybe it's time to stop being so negative about the St. Louis Cardinals. They became the first team to sweep the Baltimore Orioles in over two years this past Wednesday, pushing their record up to 23-26, which is somehow only 1.5 games out of Wild Card contention in the National League.

But then again, the Cardinals have been one of the worst hitting teams in the league all season and if anything, a hot stretch could derail their future if they stand pat at the trade deadline and end up falling out of the race by late August. It's certainly nice to see St. Louis playing competent baseball in their last 10 games, but they've had too many players fail to show up for the new season thus far.

With that said, it's time to highlight those underachievers taking up space on the Redbirds' roster. By no means are the Cardinals' woes limited to the performances of these three, but their struggles have been most indicative of the big picture problems St. Louis is facing as they try to build a winner moving forward. We'll discuss those larger issues as well as they relate to the players with whom they correspond.

Paul Goldschmidt

This one hurts, because it's hard for a fan base to really ever be angry at someone who's won a league MVP in their uniform. But it's nearly June now and Paul Goldschmidt still has an OPS under .600. So even if Cards fans aren't fully sick of having Goldschmidt on the team, it's hard to argue that batting him in the third spot in the lineup every day is doing anyone good at this point.

The entire premise that the Cardinals could compete for a playoff spot this season was founded on the bedrock of having Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado anchoring the corners with elite production. It's the reason they won the NL Central in 2023 and although neither was bad a season ago, their dip in offense certainly helped contribute to the massive drop in wins. Now, they've both been downright bad, with Goldschmidt being the far worse of the two evils.

And it's hard to give up on someone who's been as consistently fantastic as Goldschmidt has for his whole career. He's never had a year with an OPS+ under 115 and right now, he's sitting at a 72. So at what point do the Redbirds accept that this is no longer only an extended slump and start preparing for life after Goldschmidt at first base? Does that point to a trade in the near future, since the 36-year-old is an impending free agent? These are not enviable discussions, for sure.

Miles Mikolas

To say Cardinals fans are fed up with the 2024 version of Miles Mikolas would be a massive understatement, because most of them have been sick of watching him pitch for close to a calendar year now. Mikolas looked to be having a career resurgence with an All-Star campaign in 2022, but has been the most consistently hittable pitcher in all of MLB since then.

If there's one positive thing to say about Mikolas, it's that he won't miss a start. He was the only pitcher in baseball to make 35 starts a season ago and has taken the ball for the Cards 10 times already this year. But when he makes those starts, he's getting lit up like a Christmas tree. Since the start of 2023, he leads MLB with 289 hits allowed and is carrying an ERA of 4.99.

Mikolas has been so bad, in fact, that he may not even be redeemable as a trade chip if St. Louis falls out of playoff contention. He has a whiff rate in the third percentile this year and though he has thrown four variations of breaking pitches, he has the worst slider in baseball, sporting a -7 run value. Though he has some good memories in a Cardinals uniform, fans have had more than enough of watching him take the mound every fifth game.

Pedro Pages

This seems mean and it earnestly is not meant to be a slam on Pedro Pages himself, since the 25-year-old probably had no idea he would be thrust into a big-league role so soon. But his presence on the MLB roster is a constant reminder of Willson Contreras' brutal injury and that is what Cardinals fans are truly fed up with.

Contreras was not only having a phenomenal season, but he was pretty much carrying the entire offense. Rookie shortstop Masyn Winn has stepped his game up as of late, but he and Contreras are still the only position players on the roster with at least 1 bWAR. Ivan Herrera is a serviceable backup catcher, and hasn't hit poorly as the starter, but Pages is totally overmatched against MLB pitching. So far, he's 1-for-15 with seven strikeouts.

Having two catchers who can at least hold their own is an underrated necessity in today's MLB. Catching takes such a toll on a player's body that they really can't be expected to do it every game anymore. J.T. Realmuto may be one of the very last of a dying breed in that regard. Those that can hit well enough, like Contreras, can DH on their days off, but you need a second catcher who is at least a reasonable threat with a bat in his hands. So far, Pages has not proven he's anywhere close to being that threat.