Could Greg Garcia Be the Cardinals’ Answer at Shortstop?

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

So, last night was ugly. And I don’t want to talk about it. So I won’t. We’ll assume that Wainwright is fine and just had an off night.

In the meantime, let’s talk about something happy.

A guy named Greg Garcia plays shortstop for the Cardinals AAA club, the Memphis Redbirds. He’s been decent there, but no one’s been terribly excited about him. He’s been hitting .271/.371/.381 so far this season, with 2 home runs and 13 stolen bases. His on base percentage is pretty nice, but he isn’t even on the forty man roster right now, meaning that he’s not eligible (currently) for a September call-up. But there are two more days for the Cardinals to fix that error!

Why would they want to, you ask? Well, Garcia has been mediocre this season at AAA, but he has been spectacular in the month of August. He’s hitting .377 with a .478 OBP and a .519 slugging percentage. He’s been an absolute beast.

For those of you keeping track at home, Cardinals shortstops (Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso) have combined for a .145/.236/.236 slash line in August. Yes, they have actually been that bad offensively.

Now, if you think back to last year, you might remember a very special September call-up: Pete Kozma. He came to the Cardinals on August 31 and proceeded to hit .333/.383/.569 down the stretch for St. Louis. Like Garcia, his offense at AAA left something to be desired; he hit only .232/.292/.355 in the minors in 2012. But when he got called up, something clicked and he started crushing the ball.

Perhaps Garcia’s hot month in August indicates that he has figured something out too. I’m not convinced that he’s the ultimate answer to the Cardinals’ shortstop question, but let’s be honest, can he be any worse than the current dynamic duo? I think not.