Starting Pitchers 2020-2025

[cardstatman]

The story is that the Cards cannot draft/sign/develop MLB starting pitchers.

I thought I'd take a look at the MLB starting pitching over the last 5 years 2020-2025 and see which pitchers have pitched the most MLB innings.
It turns out that 200 pitchers have thrown 300+ IP during that time. An average MLB team would produce 3.33% of these pitchers (6 or 7).

5.5% of the top 200 came from the STL system. 11 is about 60% better than average
7.0% of the top 100 came from the STL system. 7 is about 110% better than average
8.0% of the top 50 came from the STL system. 4 is about 140% better than average
8.0% of the top 25 came from the STL system. 2 is about 140% better than average
0 of the top 10 came from the STL system. 0 is 100% below average.

Rank IP ERA Pitcher
01 928.1 2.90 Zack Wheeler (just for reference as who is #1

11 832.1 3.62 Zac Gallen (2016, Rd: 3, Pick: 29, Ovr: 106) ----- traded for Ozuna; MLB debut 1.5 yrs later
24 735.0 3.49 Sandy Alcantara (2013 amateur free agent) ----- traded for Ozuna; MLB debut with STL
36 679.0 3.79 Michael Wacha (2012, Rd: 1, Pick: 19, Ovr: 19) ----- reached free agency
40 663.2 4.05 Lance Lynn (2008, Rd: C-A, Pick: 9, Ovr: 39) ----- reached free agency
57 582.2 4.97 Austin Gomber (2014, Rd: 4, Pick: 30, Ovr: 135) ----- traded for Arenado; MLB debut with STL
67 545.1 4.11 Jack Flaherty (2014, Rd: 1, Pick: 34, Ovr: 34) ----- traded for Prieto/Showalter/Rom; MLB debut with STL
90 479.2 4.07 Marco Gonzales (2013, Rd: 1, Pick: 19, Ovr: 19) ----- traded for O'Neill; MLB debut with STL
133 388.1 4.98 Luke Weaver (2014, Rd: 1, Pick: 27, Ovr: 27) ----- traded for Goldschmidt; MLB debut with STL
137 379.2 3.94 Andre Pallante (2019, Rd: 4, Pick: 18, Ovr: 125) ----- still here
156 357.2 4.76 Dakota Hudson (2016, Rd: 1, Pick: 34, Ovr: 34) ----- reached free agency
183 320.2 4.32 Johan Oviedo (2016 amateur free agent) ----- traded for Quintana/Stratton; MLB debut with STL

Guys I did not count
30 697.1 4.40 Miles Mikolas ----- free agent from Japan
61 564.2 4.06 Adam Wainwright ----- acquired for J.D. Drew; MLB debut almost 2 years later

If I cannot count Gallen, then I can count Wainwright.

Gallen (or Wainwright), Alcantara, Lynn, Flaherty have been good enough to be serious Cy Young contenders (or winners) at least once.

I just looked this all up so I thought I would share. There could be a mistake somewhere.

[cardstatman]

Quick and dirty look at position players with the most MLB plate appearances in 2020-2025 that at least spent time in the Cards farm system

I did not bother to research if they really were drafted or originally signed by STL or if most of their development was at STL.
Some of these 15 would not count if I did the research. I'm too lazy to finish this since I was more interested in pitching.
I also may have missed some guys.

Rank Player PA fRunsAboveAverage
26 Randy Arozarena 2963 +42
41 Adolis García 2852 +11
73 Tommy Edman 2470 +50
78 Tommy Pham 2455 -54
109 Randal Grichuk 2195 -37
113 Lane Thomas 2175 -15
142 David Peralta 1928 -33
145 Tyler O'Neill 1909 +31
150 Dylan Carlson 1860 -33
152 Harrison Bader 1846 +25
161 Brendan Donovan 1809 +32
176 Paul DeJong 1752 -22
179 Donovan Solano 1728 -10
183 Lars Nootbaar 1720 +29
191 Ramón Urías 1678 +4

[ICCFIM2]

The story is that the Cards cannot draft/sign/develop MLB starting pitchers.

I thought I'd take a look at the MLB starting pitching over the last 5 years 2020-2025 and see which pitchers have pitched the most MLB innings.
It turns out that 200 pitchers have thrown 300+ IP during that time. An average MLB team would produce 3.33% of these pitchers (6 or 7).

5.5% of the top 200 came from the STL system. 11 is about 60% better than average
7.0% of the top 100 came from the STL system. 7 is about 110% better than average
8.0% of the top 50 came from the STL system. 4 is about 140% better than average
8.0% of the top 25 came from the STL system. 2 is about 140% better than average
0 of the top 10 came from the STL system. 0 is 100% below average.

Rank IP ERA Pitcher
01 928.1 2.90 Zack Wheeler (just for reference as who is #1

11 832.1 3.62 Zac Gallen (2016, Rd: 3, Pick: 29, Ovr: 106) ----- traded for Ozuna; MLB debut 1.5 yrs later
24 735.0 3.49 Sandy Alcantara (2013 amateur free agent) ----- traded for Ozuna; MLB debut with STL
36 679.0 3.79 Michael Wacha (2012, Rd: 1, Pick: 19, Ovr: 19) ----- reached free agency
40 663.2 4.05 Lance Lynn (2008, Rd: C-A, Pick: 9, Ovr: 39) ----- reached free agency
57 582.2 4.97 Austin Gomber (2014, Rd: 4, Pick: 30, Ovr: 135) ----- traded for Arenado; MLB debut with STL
67 545.1 4.11 Jack Flaherty (2014, Rd: 1, Pick: 34, Ovr: 34) ----- traded for Prieto/Showalter/Rom; MLB debut with STL
90 479.2 4.07 Marco Gonzales (2013, Rd: 1, Pick: 19, Ovr: 19) ----- traded for O'Neill; MLB debut with STL
133 388.1 4.98 Luke Weaver (2014, Rd: 1, Pick: 27, Ovr: 27) ----- traded for Goldschmidt; MLB debut with STL
137 379.2 3.94 Andre Pallante (2019, Rd: 4, Pick: 18, Ovr: 125) ----- still here
156 357.2 4.76 Dakota Hudson (2016, Rd: 1, Pick: 34, Ovr: 34) ----- reached free agency
183 320.2 4.32 Johan Oviedo (2016 amateur free agent) ----- traded for Quintana/Stratton; MLB debut with STL

Guys I did not count
30 697.1 4.40 Miles Mikolas ----- free agent from Japan
61 564.2 4.06 Adam Wainwright ----- acquired for J.D. Drew; MLB debut almost 2 years later

If I cannot count Gallen, then I can count Wainwright.

Gallen (or Wainwright), Alcantara, Lynn, Flaherty have been good enough to be serious Cy Young contenders (or winners) at least once.

I just looked this all up so I thought I would share. There could be a mistake somewhere.

Its a nice list. The Gallen Alcantara trade has been rehashed. If you look at the rest of the pitchers on this list.
Wacha, hurt and did not pitch effectively for several years after the Cards let him go.
Lynn, hurt and did not pitch effectively for a couple years after the Cards let him go.
Gomber, never was good.
Flaherty hurt, did well for a bit last year and is not good this year with a great team.
Gonzales, he was OK, but the trade for O'Neil was a risk worth taking.
Weaver, was terrible for years until reinventing himself as a reliever
Pallante, a decent success story.
Hudson, what happened to him...
Oviedo, hurt and has not pitched since 2023.

As many innings as those guys covered. they all missed significant time or were ineffective for years after leaving the Cards. The only ones that really hurt losing were Gallen and Alcantara. Gallen went from good to pitching horrible in his walk year this year. If was offered an extension by the D Backs, he should have taken it...From what I read, his agent, Boras, asked for the sun and the moon. When are players going to learn that asking for the sun and moon can end up being zero. Take a good payday and be happy. It is life changing money...

[cardstatman]

Agreed. Sending away Gallen and Alcantara really hurt.

Mozeliak mentioned that trade as the one thing he'd like to have not done.