Outfielder Randal Grichuk ended not only his 2017 season but possibly his Cardinals career with a solo home run on Sunday, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards have an oft-discussed glut of outfielders with Grichuk, Dexter Fowler, Stephen Piscotty, Tommy Pham, Harrison Bader and Magneuris Sierra all on the big league roster, plus prospect Tyler O’Neill in Triple-A Memphis. St. Louis will look to reduce its redundancies on the roster this winter, and Goold points out that the arbitration-eligible Grichuk carries a similar profile to the powerful-but-strikeout-prone O’Neill. Controllable through 2020, the 26-year-old Grichuk brings significant power (career .239 ISO) and a center-field-capable glove to the table but has also continually struggled to make contact. Through 1386 MLB plate appearances, Grichuk has a 29.9 percent strikeout rate. In 442 PAs in 2017, he hit .238/.285/.473 with 22 long balls and a 30.1 percent strikeout rate.
More out of St. Louis…
- Right-hander Sam Tuivailala will be out of options in 2018, and his strong finish to the season looks to have earned him a spot in next year’s bullpen, writes Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch. “He’s continued to move his way up in how we viewed him,” said manager Mike Matheny. The 24-year-old Tuivailala was optioned to the minors on three different occasions in 2017, his final option year, but wound up totaling 42 1/3 innings with a 2.55 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate and a strong 23.4 percent weak-contact rate. President of baseball ops John Mozeliak tells Hummel that he’s long been excited about “Tui,” but the righty simply hasn’t had consistent opportunities until late in the year. “I think he finished strong, and I think he helped himself,” said Mozeliak.
- While the Cardinals’ bullpen gets much of the blame for the team missing the postseason, Bernie Miklasz of ESPN 101 points out that St. Louis relievers ranked well in both ERA and Win Probability Added — even late in the year after the loss of Trevor Rosenthal. However, the starting rotation faltered significantly, Miklasz writes, failing to make it to the fifth inning in six of the team’s final 13 games and posting an ERA just shy of 5.00 over the Cardinals’ final 42 games of the year. While there’s undoubtedly work to be done in the ’pen this winter, the rotation indeed looks like an area in need of reinforcements as well. Lance Lynn is set to hit the open market, and Adam Wainwright is undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery tomorrow — further creating uncertainty on the starting staff.
TBH I hope Grichuk stays, good runner, good glove, and pop. I know he strikeout a lot but he’s still a top talent
No, no he’s not.
Yes yes he is. People hate on Grichuk for striking out a lot but he is still very talented. He isn’t far away from hitting at least 250. Per season and can have 30 plus homers if he plays a full season
You got jokes
I can tell you don’t know much
How many straight chances should a team give a player to hit .250, which Grichuk has done 1 out of 4 years, or to have an OBP over .300, which Grichuk has done 1 out of 4 years?
When you’re trying to keep a guy who MIGHT hit .250 then maybe you don’t know much. Come on bro
Obviously a whole heck of a lot more than you do.
He would be a top talent if the Cardinals played the Cubs every game, but other than that, he honestly isn’t. I do think he is talented, but I wouldn’t consider him a top talent at this point.
I think the Cardinals luck of “no-name prospects who somehow produce at the MLB level” has ran out.
That’s just something people say that only follow top 100 prospect lists.
But I don’t know what from 2017 would make you think that. Players promoted from Memphis is what kept this team competitive.
hunger to make the big leagues and stay. veterans no long have that hunger. why did pham, dejong, and martinez perform well? they are still hungry to get a big payday.
There might be something to that. Look what happened to C-Mart after FO extended his contract. It seemed his focus deteriorated and his pitching reflected that, although, he did not receive alot of run support in some of those outings.
Yeah, if anything, the Cardinals only built upon their reputation of developing less heralded position prospects/players…Or “guys alot of people haven’t heard of” according to the previous poster..
The Cardinals are exceptional at identifying guys in the early to mid portions of the draft with talent, and then they coach those players up to get the most out of them..This year, you had guys like Harrison Bader (3rd round), Tommy Pham (16th Round), Paul DeJong (4th round), and then you had their breakout stud Jose Martinez (Acquired via trade for cash considerations after being DFA) and Magneuris Sierra (Signed for just $105,00 as an International Free Agent).
Ironically, the one prospect with the highest draft and prospect pedigree, Carson Kelly (2nd Round), he was the player that struggled the most.
I’m not as familiar with how well the Cardinals do drafting, acquiring, and signing pitchers, but their reputation exceeds most other teams when it comes to their approach to acquiring and developing cheap, yet ultimately very talented position players.
Yes, it was a down year for the Cardinals overall, but they still had several talented position players/prospects “come out from nowhere.” In my opinion, that isn’t likely to change much anytime soon, because they have their philosophy and process down to a science, and clearly it has been producing results for them, year after year. Luck, has nothing to do with it, maybe keeping guys healthy, but there’s no luck in acquiring talent like they have, year after year, player after player..
I mean, one would think, eventually, they might run out of position players to call up, but if anyone can keep doing it, it’s the Cardinals…
The game is changing. You cant win without big names anymore. You have to have impact bats and probably need more than 1. That is evident in what has happened in the past few years in the NL.
That’s just how Dodger fans justify a 250 Million Payroll
Another clueless fan alert. Yes im a dodger fan is water wet too?? Their best hitters are all on rookie contracts or a whopping 64 million.
Right because Tommy PHAM, Jose Martinez, and Paul DeJong were considered all world prospects..
You missed the point
That the original poster is pushing a poorly informed narrative?
DeJong, Pham, and Martinez are going to end up being tje Diaz, Grichuk, Wong of next season.
I’m guessing you didn’t see the numbers Wong put up this year.
So you’re saying they’re basically going to have a rotating lineup of great one year, demoted to AAA the next year guys? Because that’s effectively been the life stories of Wong, Diaz, Piscotty, Grichuk, Pham, etc.
Luck?
I’m hoping that the FO can make the necessary changes so they are competitive next year.
I agree
Cardinals need to make some tough choices, but players like Grichuk and Carpenter are deadweight if you get decent replacements. Neither have huge amounts of value to this team.
I honestly don’t understand the blow back on Carpenter. He is a 3 War player. Go sign another 3 War guy for the same price. I dare you.
he’s a minus 3 war in intangibles. what never shows up in stats that are calculated.
Carpenter is a terrible fielder no matter where you put him and possibly the worst base runner in the Majors. Get what you can for him and send him packing.
Except neither of those points are true
Sorry but 3 war in what? He is not a good defender, base runner and as a leadoff hitter all he does is pull the ball. Why is that? In 2013 is was a great hitter, hitting every field: singles, double (hitting more doubles in franchise history) now he wants to be a HE hitter
In that statement, comparing Carpenter’s value to Grichuk’s is laughable. Players carry value in the clubhouse and off the field as well. Carpenter is clearly a leader of this team, which has long been a staple of the Cardinals organization and their success (Pujols, C. Carpenter, Wainwright, Molina). Carpenter has fallen in-line with being that type of leader. I’m not as down on Grichuk as most people are, and I’m certainly not as high on Carpenter as most, but you are completely unaware if you can genuinely think Carpenter doesn’t have a lot of value to the organization.
carpenter is leading the cardinals in the wrong direction.
Took the words right out of my mouth…. Carpenter is the leader of a team that finished 83-79, 4 games out of a wild card game- who cares? In fact, the last time we were any good was when he was a rookie and we didn’t rely on his “leadership.”
Ageeed
Sorry….agreed
Not sorry… disagree
sometimes, leaders are more detrimental to a team than helpful. case in point, tiki barber. first year off the team, they win the super bowl. he was a leader, and a crybaby.
Well that’s definitive proof if I’ve ever seen it. Sound reasoning
The Cardinals lack any “superstar” level rookies that could really move the needle. The game is different in that there’s more of these guys and it’s hard when everyone else has them except you because the cardinal way is finding value in the weeds of the later rounds. We’ve got a team of slightly above average players with a good rotation. Really makes the margin of error tighter and makes us more prone to injuries or a part of the team struggling. We lack a big bat in the middle of the lineup that the other teams fear, that alone can have ripple effects on other guys in the order. Does make me miss Holliday’s bat and presence, less so his glove lol I hope the front office hasn’t become complacent with the status quo. i hope some good deals can be had for a middle of the order bat (Stanton- perfect world- or Donaldson) and some pitching reinforcements. Ultimately, I’d love to see the cardinals prepare the war chest for the 2019 FA class and and really make some big moves (Machado please?) to move the team closer to being a NL Central favorite again.
Carpenter has been one of the best leadoff hitters in the league but Matheny’s lineups behind him have been kooky all year. Shuffling fowler, wong, and pham around all year and leaving molina in the 6 hole has killed the lower half of the lineup all year.
Well of I may say, this ownership is CHEAP. They will NOT trade for a legitimate player, two or three. They will always look from writhin and they will see that the minors has some promising young talent that can make an impact….especially after the AAA team won the Pacific Coast league. Well personally I am tired of the B’S, and tired of players such as Matt Carpenter who is a HORRIBLE defender, baserunner and can so.eone explain why this tues can not go the other way….really…. Also everyone is taking about Donaldson or IF Martinez or Stanton…why this organization will not get ANY of them noe that Jose Martinez has arrived to play 1st which means the stellar defender Carpenter is @ 3rd…..GOD save us all
Facts
Try learning how to put together a concise sentence before you critique anyone. That was painful to read.
One of the biggest moves the Cardinals can make this offseason would be to convince Oquendo to come back to the big league staff. The team seemed to gel better with him there and definitely played better defense. Other than that, 2 big bats and an innings eating starter. I’d love to see them make a move for Machado and someone like Jose Abreu or Christian Yelich. I haven’t seen anything about the Cardinals possibly pursuing Arrietta. I wonder if they kick the tires on him.
Marcel Ozuna would be my choice. Then shift Fowler to a corner OF spot. Trade from the excess OF’s to acquire pitching. I’m sure the team will try to do something. Nobody saw the Heyward trade coming when it happened. Probably won’t see the next one coming either.
The Cubs, Indians, Astros, Yankees, Redsox etc.. all put together with draft picks and development.. They are all almost identical in that regard.. The cards have missed on too many draft picks lately and Mozeliak who in the past has gotten it right has gotten it very wrong.. the cards took Marco G and Wisdom in the 1st rd ahead of Judge.. all teams but NY basically messed that up but you win some you lose some.. Mo put together a BS roster and Matheny hasnt helped with his to a fault loyalty. The league will always be cyclical like this.. Moving forward they need to get back to getting it right.