Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals Lose A Key Coach For 2023

Originally posted on The Cold Wire | By Curt Bishop | Last updated 11/15/22

Several weeks ago, St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak announced that the team’s hitting coach, Jeff Albert would not be returning in 2023.

St. Louis promoted assistant hitting coach Turner Ward to fill Albert’s role and hired Brandon Allen to be their new assistant hitting coach.

It was later revealed that Albert chose to depart St. Louis after being the center of criticism for the team’s offensive struggles by several fans and media members.

The New York Mets have swooped in however and have hired Albert as the director of hitting position.

The news was announced by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Jeff Albert — new coach in Queens.#stlcards wanted to offer him a multi-year deal to return, but Albert walked away. When was his stock going to be hire than now? @martinonyc has news on where he's headed next … https://t.co/lbA3prcw6C

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) November 15, 2022

The Cardinals Offense Under Albert

Albert had been the target of much criticism on behalf of Cardinals fans.

St. Louis had hired Albert prior to the 2019 season.

In the previous season, St. Louis finished in the top five in the National League in runs scored.

But the team regressed offensively in 2019, falling to 10th in the NL in runs scored and hitting for a combined average of .245.

The Cardinals regressed further in the shortened 2020 season, hitting just .234 as a team, which was fourth worst in the NL.

The Cardinals saw a slight improvement in 2021 in batting average, but scored just 706 runs.

The return of Albert Pujols helped bolster the offense slightly in 2022, but in the postseason, St. Louis hit just .185 and scored a total of three runs in their two losses to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cardinals fans had constantly demanded change prior to Albert’s exit, and Mozeliak was even prepared to offer him a multi-year contract before Albert announced his departure.

This article first appeared on The Cold Wire and was syndicated with permission.

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