St. Louis Cardinals Mailbag: What is Stephen Piscotty’s upside?

Welcome to the St. Louis Cardinals mailbag, where I’ll take the fans questions and dish my take on the topic.

February has arrived and with 8 days left until spring training begins with pitchers and catchers reporting, it’s time to take some questions. So many times people respond to my tweets with questions and 140 characters simply isn’t enough. They deserve more than a pause, reflection and half wit response or a seven tweet response. Here I am. After opening the day for questioning, here are the questions I got.

First, great questions. The two outfield young guns that John Mozeliak is betting heavily on are both being slotted as starting players in 2016. Stephen Piscotty has worked himself out at first base and in the outfield while Randal Grichuk has worked himself back to health in the offseason from a sports hernia surgery.

While Grichuk may offer more pop, I think Piscotty’s overall makeup and versatility give him the upside. He came to the Cardinals in 2015 midseason and gave them instant production and did so at the top, middle and bottom of the order. He can smack home runs, spit doubles into the gaps and play a number of positions. He offers more to the Cardinals right now than Grichuk. Grichuk’s main concern is health and strikeouts. Piscotty’s OPS and liability is less.

First base has been a much talked about position for the St. Louis Cardinals since 2012.

Who starts at first base on April 4th in Pittsburgh? My answer is Brandon Moss. The loss of power from Matt Adams was starting before he tore his quad in 2015. He had lost it since 2014’s All Star Break. Moss’ problem was a hip and glute injury he suffered in 2014 and couldn’t rehab properly before 2015 started. Check out Moss’ healthy seasons and he presents more upside than Adams and also gives the Cards something they need and that’s power. Raw pop. The 2012-14 Moss is deadly.

In 296 plate appearances in 2012, Moss cranked 21 home runs and slugged .596. 2013 and 2014 were swell. When this guy is healthy, he hits. First base means pop. Extra base hits. Moss handles lefties better and has more upside than Adams. He will see the majority of the at bats in 2016. His experience and tenure at the position project better for the Cardinals moving forward. Sorry Big City. Could be your big exit?

Next: Where does Matt Carpenter hit?