Four under-the-radar starters the Cardinals could acquire before August 1

At this point, we know the Cardinals are going to be sellers at the trade deadline. They’ve dug themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of, and all odds are against them. Sometimes, that’s when the Cardinals do their best work, but I don’t think it’s possible this year.

Still, the Cardinals can do a little buying as it pertains to 2024. We know they need starting pitching and bullpen help. I would say starting pitching is the biggest need. The six-game winning streak was encouraging, but I knew the rotation would revert back to its old ways.

In this post, we’ll examine four under-the-radar starting pitchers the Cardinals could look at as the deadline approaches.

Bryce Miller

Out of all of the potential under-the-radar starters that may be available, Bryce Miller is the one who intrigues me the most. We know from Jon Morosi’s report a while back that the Cardinals had spoken to the Mariners about swapping a position player for a controllable starter. Derrick Goold also reported that there was interest in Logan Gilbert.

However, the Mariners are in contention, and realistically, I don’t think it would make sense for them to trade Gilbert. But Miller could be the next best thing. He possesses some of that high-upside strikeout stuff that the Cardinals are so desperate for and is having a great season. On Friday, he struck out six batters against the Blue Jays over 5.1 innings.

Miller is 6-3 on the year with an ERA of 3.50 and would be a huge addition to the rotation, even with Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery likely on their way out. I would imagine Miller wouldn’t be nearly as expensive as Gilbert and that the Cardinals could offload somebody like Dylan Carlson, Tyler O’Neill, or even Alec Burleson.

Clarke Schmidt

I was reading a piece in The Athletic by Katie Woo and Chris Kirschner. They were theorizing that the Cardinals could send Brendan Donovan to the Yankees in exchange for Schmidt and some pitching prospects. Schmidt has high upside, but I wouldn’t want to lose Donovan for him.

I did hear a potential proposal on BK & Ferrario, which included a package of Dylan Carlson, Jordan Hicks, and Jack Flaherty, for Schmidt, Clayton Beeter, and a couple other prospects.

Schmidt, like all starters mentioned in this piece, has a high strikeout rate. I’m more inclined to agree with the proposal on BK & Ferrario, because I don’t think that’s enough for Donovan. The Yankees are in need of outfield depth and rotation and bullpen help.

Schmidt is also someone with four more years of control and a guy that you can pencil into the Cardinals 2024 rotation.

Michael Grove

Grove faced the Cardinals last September during their slide and beat Adam Wainwright. His numbers this year aren’t good, but he does possess strikeout potential. A joint piece in The Athletic by Woo and Fabian Ardaya featured a bit about Grove’s velocity.

He can touch the upper 90s with his fastball and has an arsenal of four pitches. I think the Cardinals could possibly get a few more controllable Dodgers arms if they send Flaherty or Montgomery their way.

Bobby Miller

Bobby Miller may cost a bit more than the other three pitchers listed, and it may take the Cardinals giving the Dodgers someone like Lars Nootbaar, even though they’ve labeled him as untouchable. But it might be worth the price to bring in a controllable arm like Miller’s.

The 24-year-old has started 10 games and owns an ERA of 4.28, so his numbers aren’t exactly bad. They aren’t great, but the bar is low for the Cardinals at this point. He started yesterday against the Rangers though and struck out six batters over six innings of three-run ball.