2015 St. Louis Cardinals’ Season Review: Surprises

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October 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Stephen Piscotty (55) hits a two run home run in the first inning against Chicago Cubs in game four of the NLDS at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

#1 Stephen Piscotty 

Without a doubt this season’s top surprise performer is Stephen Piscotty. The 24 year old 1B/OF showed us something this season. I completely missed the boat on this guy when I did my players to watch for at the very beginning of the season. I did not have confidence that Piscotty would develop the power needed to have a shot at 1B, but he absolutely surprised us all and came up and performed when the Cardinals’ needed him most. I really wish he would have been called up sooner, but hindsight is always 20/20. 

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In just 63 games played this season Piscotty finished the season with a .305/.359/.494 slash with 26 extra-base hits (15 doubles, 7 homers, 4 triples). Piscotty also drove in 39 runs and had a .393/.443/.541 slash with runners in scoring position, with a wRC+ of 133 according to Fangraphs. The only thing Piscotty may need to work on is the strikeouts as he finished with 56 strikeouts through his 63 games.

Cardinals’ fans need to temper their expectations for the young player for next year, as he did have a bit of luck involved with his .372 average on balls in play (BABIP). It will be interesting to see where Piscotty plays next year, despite his strong season this year I am ok with the Cardinals making him the super sub in the OF and at 1B next season if Matt Adams can improve and the Cardinals sign Heyward.

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