The St. Louis Cardinals have essentially already determined their fate for the 2024 season.
With Sunday's loss, they were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays and knocked back below the .500 mark for the first time since August 30. They sit 12 games back in the National League Central and seven back in the Wild Card race.
The main culprit for the team's struggles this season has been their offense. They are tied for 25th in the Major Leagues in runs scored and are 21st in the league in OPS.
With their final homestand of the year approaching, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch proposed the idea of letting go of hitting coach Turner Ward.
Ward has been in the Cardinals organization since 2022, when he took a job as the assistant hitting coach. He was promoted the following year after Jeff Albert left his post.
Under Ward, the Cardinals have not had much success offensively. They were 19th in the Majors in runs scored last year, and this year has obviously been a struggle as well.
Ward could very well be on his way out, especially if the Cardinals make other personnel changes. It is still possible that President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak could move to a lesser role for the final year of his contract and allow a new face to take over his duties.
But it's obvious at this point that what the Cardinals have been doing for the past several years isn't working and that change may be inevitable.
If changes do come, then it would not be a surprise for Ward to be let go as part of such changes. St. Louis has 13 games left on the schedule and would likely need to win all of them to have any chance at reaching the postseason.
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