When you look at Matt Svanson’s baseball savant page, it has drastically changed from last season, and that is no secret. The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander had a 10.1 K/9 with a 1.94 ERA in 39 appearances last season, totaling 60.1 innings, but this year the sinkerballer has a 9.61 ERA in 19.2 innings.
Once perceived as one of the more trustworthy arms in the Cardinals' bullpen, Svanson has fallen from the mountain top. Last season, after the trade deadline, Svanson held opposing hitters to a .159 average with a strikeout percentage of 35.5%. Meanwhile, this season his walk rate is up, and he has allowed runs in 11 of his 18 appearances.
So how do the Cardinals fix Svanson before it becomes irreversible? One option is to send him down to Memphis to make some appearances and dial in his pitch mix before returning to the MLB staff.
Walks have been the headlining issue in the Cardinals' bullpen this season, and Svanson’s BB/9 has nearly doubled since last season, going from 3.0 to 5.9. Not only that, but his H/9 have gone from 4.9 to 12.4; he is getting tormented by opposing hitters. The bottom line is that he hasn’t been as good as he was last season, and with the Cardinals in a competitive state, he just won’t cut it in the bullpen long term with the production he is putting out right now.
The options in Memphis are slim to bring up and replace Svanson’s role, but one option that has come up already this season is Ryan Fernadez. Fernandez pitched well in his rookie campaign, but, like Svanson, he struggled in his second season and was sent to Memphis for the remainder of the season. In his return this season, Fernandez appeared in four games before being the odd man out when Hunter Dobbins returned from injury to make a spot start against the Pittsburgh Pirates a week and a half ago.
Svanson has been one of the more hair-pulling options in the Cardinals' bullpen, and if Fernandez can come up and continue to pitch well while Svanson goes to Memphis to fix his issues, then the Cardinals should make the move sooner rather than later. The Cardinals look to be ahead of schedule in their rebuild, and bullpen issues will ultimately be the downfall of the team, causing them to go from hosting a Wild Card series or even a Division title winner with a bye to out of the playoffs or playing a three-game series on the road in October.