Jon Jay bounces back during 2014 season

St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay bounced back during the 2014 season.

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Following a season that saw Jay hit .276/.351/.370, Jay bounced back to a season that saw him hit .303/.372/.378 and strike out less at the plate. Jay also led the league in getting plunked 20 times at the plate. This was after a slow start to the season that saw him splitting time with Peter Bourjos, who the Cardinals acquired last November from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

During the 2013 postseason, Jay appeared to be an automatic out at the plate but that was not the case during the 2014 postseason when Jay appeared to be getting hits in half of his at-bats.

Defensively, Jay handled had a .992 fielding percentage. He was perfect in right field and in center, Jay fielded .995 of everything hit towards center. The only question mark was left field, where Jay fielded .963 of everything hit that direction. Jay’s dWAR of 0.5 was a far increase from his 2013 dWAR of -2.5 as an outfielder.

Following the Cardinals loss on Thursday night, Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams were amongst those giving praise to Jay’s work this season.

What we saw this season from Jay gives pause to make one wonder if there is a place for Bourjos on the Cardinals roster. Bourjos is a speedster on the base paths and when healthy, is one of the best defenders in the game. However, his place on the team is up for question.

For Jay, it’s a question of what Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak decides to do during the offseason.