As if things couldn't get any worse for the St. Louis Cardinals this season, Ryan Helsley is going on IL with the always-concerning forearm strain.
It has been a minute since the St. Louis Cardinals have fielded this bad of a baseball team.
Although the Redbirds don't always make the postseason, they rarely find themselves in the cellar of the NL Central, a place they firmly occupy now. St. Louis is a dismal 27-39 on the season. Only the Washington Nationals (.403) and the Colorado Rockies (.406) have a worse record than them.
And to make matters even worse, last year's All-Star reliever Ryan Helsley is going on IL with a forearm strain backdated to June 10. Jake Woodford has been recalled from Triple-A Memphis.
Helsley has a 3-4 record in 22 appearances for the Cardinals this season with seven saves, a 3.24 ERA and a 1.160 WHIP. He may only be on IL for a short while, but forearm strains could be indicative of something much worse. It probably indicates that he will be shut down at the very least. If this is indeed the worst-case scenario, Helsley could be looking at Tommy John surgery…
St. Louis is eight games back of the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central division race.
St. Louis Cardinals' year from hell just keeps getting worse by the nanosecond
The good news for the Cardinals is they are one of the better run organizations in the National League. Even as a casual observer from afar, I trust them to make more smart decisions than most of their counterparts. The bad news is they seem to have most certainly hit their definite ceiling. If they need to be down for a few years to replenish the farm system, then their fans must have patience.
Overall, it is as weird to see the Cardinals at the bottom of the NL Central standings as it is seeing the Arizona Diamondbacks lead the Los Angeles Dodgers out west, as well as the Miami Marlins not going away and very much on the Atlanta Braves' toes. The really strange part in all this is I sincerely doubt the Cardinals will be capable of flipping the switch to even get back in this thing.
Ultimately, it feels like the NL Central will come down to the Pirates and the Milwaukee Brewers, with the Cincinnati Reds also somehow still keeping it interesting. Milwaukee is the most seasoned club of the three, but the fact it is not St. Louis pushing the Brew Crew is certainly head-scratching. The Cardinals could potentially bounce back next season, but 2023 has been a bad one.
It will be so interesting to see how well-run St. Louis responds to what will be a season to forget.