Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Need To Trade $7.5 Million Pitcher Before He Rapidly Declines

The Cardinals need to trade Erick Fedde soon.
Zach Pressnell|
Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Erick Fedde (12) reacts after being hit by a ball against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Erick Fedde (12) reacts after being hit by a ball against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals need to trade their starting pitcher, Erick Fedde, as soon as possible.

First off, the Cardinals should have traded Fedde in the offseason following his career season with the Chicago White Sox and the Cardinals. Instead, they headed into the season with him on the roster.

Fedde's contract expires at the end of the season. Trading him makes plenty of sense for the state of the Cardinals' rebuild. Right now, he has a good bit of value in a trade, but that might trend in the wrong direction and Fedde's start on Sunday showed early signs of a drastic decline.

On Sunday, Fedde allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs over 5 2/3 innings of work in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. It seemed like every ball put in play would find a hole in the defense.

It's hard to trust a pitcher like Fedde after he spent time in Korea because of a lack of interest from big league teams a few seasons ago. Since returning, he's posted solid numbers on the surface, but once you dig a little deeper, you notice the red flags.

According to Baseball Savant, Fedde ranks in the bottom 25 percent of baseball in xERA (5.00), xBA (.273), chase percentage (24 percent), whiff percentage (18 percent), strikeout percentage (12.1 percent), and walk percentage (13.1 percent).

These underlying numbers indicate quite a regression compared to his solid statistics.

Right now, he likely has a bit of a market because there are plenty of teams desperate to add starting pitching, but this could quickly change if he has a few more bad starts in a row.

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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