The St. Louis Cardinals got some disappointing news Tuesday.

St. Louis made a specific effort to improve the starting rotation early in the offseason and the club’s most notable addition certainly was three-time All-Star Sonny Gray.

The 34-year-old shined last season with the Minnesota Twins and finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting. The club certainly is excited about Gray, but now may have to wait to see him back on the mound after he suffered a hamstring injury.

St. Louis will now have some tough decisions to make. The Cardinals still have plenty of money to spend and there are some intriguing players available in free agency. The club has hinted it may not be looking, though.

While this is the case, Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell, and Michel Lorenzen all were floated as possible options by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold.

“The Cardinals will spend the next couple of days monitoring Gray’s recovery for a better sense of the injury and his healing,” Goold said. That will also buy them time to determine if they need to address their pitching depth like they recently did their shortstop depth — by going shopping.

“The free-agent market remains stocked with options, including the top-shelf lefties Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery but also pitchers who are looking for lesser commitments, in dollars or years, and also offer less certainty. Michael Lorenzen, 32, is coming off a 5.51 ERA and also a no-hitter in his final 11 appearances last year after a trade to Philadelphia. The last time the Cardinals made a significant free-agent pitcher move during spring training was Kyle Lohse in March 2008. He started opening day a few weeks later and won 15 games.”

St. Louis’ club is in a better place than it was at the end of the 2023 season. The Cardinals could earn a playoff spot and maybe even more but the club’s rotation still has question marks. Why not add some more depth?