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JUPITER, Fla. — On his first day at spring camp, Cardinals All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado offered a blunt, raw response when asked about the team’s defensive performance last season.

He replied, “There’s nothing good about last year. I mean, not to be rude, but I don’t want to talk about last year.�

Clearly, the sting of a 71-91 season, missing the postseason for the first time since 2018, logging the first losing season since 2007 and the franchise’s worst record since 1990 didn’t fade over the offseason.

The club’s play defensively in 2023 yielded near-universal agreement from president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to manager Oliver Marmol to a veteran cornerstone like Arenado.

They simply weren’t good enough defensively. They fell short of their own defensive standard. That cold truth shaped decisions made this offseason and continued to shape moves made even after spring training began.

Of course, injuries to starting outfielders Tommy Edman (wrist surgery) and Lars Nootbaar (fractured ribs) will temporarily throw a wrench into the Cardinals’ best-laid plans at the start of the season.

When the Post-Dispatch circled back to Arenado recently to ask about the team’s need to improve defensively, Arenado expressed a desire for the club to return to its defensive identity, though they’ll have to “adapt� to fill in for the injuries to start the season.

Arenado, having seen his streak of 10 consecutive National League Gold Glove Awards snapped, certainly has plenty of personal motivation.

“We just have to be better,� Arenado said. “And I feel we will be. I think last year was just a lot of things didn’t go right. I think we’ll be back to who we are.�

From 2019 through 2022, the Cardinals led the majors in defensive runs saved (228) as well as defensive runs above average (129.4). From 2018 through 2022, the batting average on balls in play (BABIP) against the Cardinals never surpassed .293 for any full-length season.

In 2021, they posted the second-best BABIP in the majors (.272), and they had an MLB-record five players win Gold Gloves.

However, last season, they ranked 20th in the majors in defensive runs saved (-7), and the BABIP when the Cardinals were on defense ranked last in the majors (.320).

“I think we can get back to our really good defense,� Arenado said. “In ’22, we had (Harrison) Bader, a lot of Gold Glovers out there. This year, we still have guys that have developed and are a lot better than they were a year before. So yeah, I expect us to be really good again.�

While the new rules last season eliminated dramatic shifts that placed three infielders on one side of the diamond and prevented an infielder from positioning himself in the outfield, they did not eliminate shifts completely.

In fact, last season, the Cardinals led the majors in infield shifting runs saved (34). They registered 13 runs more saved than the next-highest team, according to the Fielding Bible.

A big part of the Cardinals’ plan to improve their defense this season hinged on having more stability. Last season, the combination of injury and trying to spread playing time around led too often to the equivalent of musical chairs.

The heart of the defense — catcher, second base, shortstop and center field — weren’t immune.

Eight players started games at second base, six started in center field and five started at shortstop. Just three catchers started games, though the team temporarily benched Willson Contreras a little more than a month into his first season as their primary catcher.

“I do feel like some of that movement may have created a little bit of a weakness in terms of our defense,� Mozeliak said during camp. “Trying to get guys in more of one position is definitely the mindset.�

That mindset guided the decision to sign veteran free-agent shortstop Brandon Crawford to back up rookie shortstop Masyn Winn.

Without Crawford, the club’s best backup plan would’ve been Edman, who’d been slated to start in center field until his slow recovery from wrist surgery assured he’ll start the season on the injured list.

Crawford’s presence should allow the Cardinals to keep Edman at one position, center field, when he’s active.

In regard to Winn, Marmol has reiterated throughout the winter and spring that he’s focused on Winn’s defense.

“We have to wrap our heads around (the fact) that Masyn is going to play really good defense for us, and he’s going to shore up the shortstop position,� Marmol said. “... The last thing I’m looking for is for him to come in and be a big part of our offense. That’s not the way I’m looking at it.�

The injuries to Edman and Nootbaar make it likely second baseman Brendan Donovan, who won a Gold Glove as a utility player in 2022, again will play multiple positions.

“The standard is, one, taking care of the baseball,� Donovan said. “What I mean by that, I think it’s handling the routine play. The one that when you watch, you’re like, ‘I need to make that play.’ I think that’s the most important one.

“Obviously, you love to make the cool ones, the diving catches and the ones that it’s like, ‘Wow. That was a great play.’ But I think the most important ones are the ones you should make.�

In 2022 and 2023, Donovan started games at second base, third base, right field, left field, first base and shortstop. He did not play in the field after July 4 last season because of an elbow injury.

“This organization does an amazing job of emphasizing the little things on the defensive side of the ball, so there’s always that level of emphasis,� Donovan said in early March. “But to see this group go about its business is pretty impressive. The attention to detail. The communication aspect. So we’ve been very happy with how it has been so far.

“But defense is such a blue-collar thing that it’s earned on a daily basis, showing up and getting your reps in and making sure you’re attentive and communicating with each other is also another level of that as well.�

This article is part of the St. Louis Cardinals season preview section, which was in print on Sunday, March 24.