St. Louis Cardinals: Randal Grichuk vs. Stephen Piscotty

Jun 2, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Randal Grichuk (15) hits a double off of Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Tyler Cravy (not pictured) during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Randal Grichuk

Pros: Raw power from the right side. Really, we don’t even need to go any farther, because that’s Grichuk’s big deal. The man can hit some home runs. Since I need more than three sentences, he’s also solid defensively and can play all three outfield spots well. He’s also a good base runner, although he doesn’t use his raw foot speed as well as he might. But really, the reason we all love him is that he absolutely hammers the ball when he makes contact.

Cons: Strikeouts and walks. He does one of those things way too much, and the other way too little (I’ll let you figure out which is which). Simply put, Grichuk just doesn’t have any patience. The power hitter with high strikeout numbers is pretty normal, but you usually get a third trait: a lot of walks. Unfortunately for the St. Louis Cardinals, Grichuk seems to have left that one out. He’s shown signs of improving, but he finished 2015 with a 6.3 BB% and a 31.4 K% (fifth worst in baseball).

Comps: Trying to find a comp for Randal Grichuk is hard, because players that strike out 30% of the time and walk 5% of the time simply don’t succeed. In history, the list of players with an ISO over .200, and BB% under 8%, and a K% over 30% is short: Bo Jackson and Juan Francisco. Both have career BB% above Randal Grichuk’s best figure in the majors. The comps are as baffling as Grichuk himself, but if you want upside to dream about, dream Bo Jackson without the football. If you want a downside, think Juan Francisco with better defense.

Next: Who do we keep?