St. Louis Cardinals’ Top 20 Hitters

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#15 – OF J.D. Drew

Drew’s appearance on this list is a little bit of an enigma. In fact, both J.D. and his brother Stephen have both been hard to figure out. J.D., at least, always had the tools he needed to be a good player, but he never quite put it all together — much to the frustration of Cardinal fans in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In spite of the fact that he never really reached his potential, J.D. Drew hit quite well for the St. Louis Cardinals, posting a 127 wRC+ in his six seasons with the Redbirds, hitting .282/.377/.498 with 96 home runs over that span.

While that doesn’t seem like the kind of performance that would be one of the Cardinals’ best, and Drew certainly isn’t one of the best Cardinal players all time, his skill with the bat was surprisingly good in retrospect.

It’s kind of easy to forget, but there was a reason why so many fans and analysts saw potential in Drew, and his 2001 season puts his skill on display. In spite of a broken pinkie and back strain that limited him to 109 games, J.D. Drew smacked 27 home runs while slashing .323/.414/.613 — good for a 162 wRC+ that beat out such sluggers as Albert Pujols, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, and Manny Ramirez.

So, as surprising as it is, Drew’s numbers earn himself a spot on this list in spite of his persistent injuries and frustrating inconsistency.

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