The 2023 MLB season has been a complete nightmare for the St. Louis Cardinals. A consistent contender featuring a pair of perennial All-Stars in the middle of the lineup, St. Louis was expected to compete for its fifth-straight playoff berth. Instead, the Cardinals have been the National League's worst team with just four weeks left until the 2023 MLB All-Star Game.
The Cardinals blew yet another late lead Wednesday afternoon, losing to the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings and falling to 27-42. St. Louis occupies last place in the NL West, sitting nine games out of first place in the league's worst division. The Cardinals are the only NL team that has won fewer than 40% of their games in 2023, trailing the hapless Washington Nationals in the overall standings.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of the Cardinals' season from hell is the level of top-end talent on the roster. St. Louis keeps finding ways to lose despite having some of MLB's best players. It was only seven months ago that Paul Goldschmidt was named the 2022 NL MVP and Nolan Arenado finished third in the voting for the award. Four Cardinals' All-Stars from a season ago are still with the team. Relief pitcher Ryan Helsley and starting pitcher Miles Mikolas have followed up 2022 All-Star campaigns with simply average seasons.
Who should be the Cardinals 2023 representative at the 2023 MLB All-Star Game? Believe it or not, St. Louis has multiple players who should make the NL roster.
Let's take a look at two Cardinals players who must be All-Stars in 2023.
Cardinals 1B Paul Goldschmidt
Goldschmidt is not going to repeat as the NL MVP winner, but he hasn't been the problem for the Cardinals in 2023. Far from it. Goldschmidt is putting together another above-average, All-Star-worthy season. In 66 games, St. Louis' first baseman is hitting .290/.385/.494. Goldschmidt's OPS and OPS+ are exactly the same as they were two seasons ago when he finished sixth in the NL MVP voting.
A look at the numbers for all NL first basemen suggests that Goldschmidt should be the backup first baseman behind Freddie Freeman on the All-Star team. Freeman ranks first at the position with a .989 OPS. Goldschmidt's .879 OPS is second. He even ranks ahead of New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso and Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson. Goldschmidt has seven stolen bases, while the aforementioned NL East sluggers have three steals total.
San Francisco Giants first baseman Lamonte Wade Jr. is making an All-Star bid with his .415 OPS. The two players are close, but Goldschmidt's resume should give him the edge over a player who is relatively unknown among casual baseball fans.
The 11 home runs and 31 RBI from Goldschmidt aren't overly impressive, though he hasn't been able to drive in many runs because he doesn't get enough production around him. Arenado has returned to his old form after a brutal first month of the 2023 season. While Arenado looked like a shell of himself with a .581 OPS in April, Goldschmidt continued to do his job in the Cardinals' lineup, posting a .897 OPS. Goldschmidt has remained steady during a chaotic season, never hitting below .272 in any month.
Cardinals 2B Nolan Gorman
The entire starting right side of the Cardinals' infield should be part of the 2023 MLB All-Star festivities at Seattle's T-Mobile Park on July 11. Nolan Gorman is one of the few St. Louis players who is exceeding expectations in 2023. If the Minnesota Twins didn't trade second baseman Luis Arraez to the Miami Marlins and allow him to flirt with batting .400 in the NL, Gorman might be deserving of leading the MLB All-Star voting for NL second basemen.
Gorman is hitting .249/.336/.514 through 63 games. Like Goldschmidt, his OPS ranks second among the players at his position. Gorman has provided more power, hitting 15 home runs and becoming the best slugging second baseman in all of MLB, let alone the NL. Arizona Diamondback second baseman Ketel Marte has been an All-Star-caliber player, posting a .824 OPS for the top team in the NL West. Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies will receive some All-Star support. He's second among players at the position with 14 home runs, and doing so for the best team in the NL's toughest division.
The biggest knock on Gorman is his defense. He ranks 34th among all second basemen in outs above average, according to Statcast. Gorman is ahead of both Arraez and Albies in that area. Albies' OPS is 63 points behind Gorman, giving the Cardinals' second baseman the edge in two key areas.
Gorman shouldn't be penalized for the Cardinals' failures. At just 23 years old, he could be turning into one of baseball's best young stars. He's on pace for a 35-homer season and deserves to be recognized as an All-Star second baseman in 2023.
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