Cardinals pitcher with 7 losses this season: I’m not a loser

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jordan Montgomery is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year on the mound. 

The St. Louis Cardinals are having a tough time winning games this season. After digging themselves a massive hole to start the year, things were briefly on the right track before another recent cold spell.

Now 3-7 in their last 10 games and 25-35 overall, the Cardinals are approaching the Aug. 1 trade deadline with a decision to make. If the season continues to go south, we could see St. Louis kick the proverbial can down the road and regroup in 2024.

Part of the problem has been their complete inability to win games with Jordan Montgomery on the mound. The lefty has started 12 games this season, tied for the most in the National League. He won the first two, and the Cards have since lost 10 straight games with Montgomery pitching.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jordan Montgomery claims he is not a loser despite losing a lot

Losing 10 straight can definitely weigh on a person, but Jordan Montgomery seems to have his head in the right place.

“I am not [a] loser. I’m going to keep giving them everything I’ve got out there. The team knows that. Manager knows it. Pitching coach knows it. Fan base knows it. … Baseball stinks. It’s not always easy. It’s not always going to go great. Everybody has to stick with what they do – and try to do it better.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch (h/t NY Post)

Montgomery’s record now sits at 2-7 on the year with a 4.23 ERA. In the Cards’ loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday, the team gave up four runs with Montgomery on the mound. Only one run was earned. It’s clear bad luck has played a factor in Montgomery’s cold spell.

The phrase “baseball stinks” from the guy who has lost 10 straight is admittedly funny, but he’s right. So many factors beyond pitching go into winning. Heck, there are factors beyond batting and fielding and base running too. There’s the weather, fatigue, travel, the unknowable forces at work in the universe — a lot can determine whether a team wins or loses.

Montgomery has lost 10 straight not simply because he’s bad at pitching. His 4.23 ERA is not exactly terrible and three of those losses aren’t even credited to him. I can point to several pitchers giving up far more earned runs on average who have not lost their last 10 starts. Montgomery has been a victim of his teammates’ struggles, his coaches’ struggles, and the collective malaise settling over this Cards team. He definitely shouldn’t be holding himself singularly accountable.

That being said… if you lose 10 straight games, you have to know the “I’m not a loser” line is going to play like chalk on a whiteboard to the more disgruntled members of the St. Louis fanbase. Montgomery has a career record of 30-30. That means before this stretch, his career record was 30-23. He is absolutely competent and at some point, this pesky streak of L’s will end. But he is at least partially accountable, and at some point “giving everything I’ve got” to the team has to translate to better results on the mound.