St. Louis Cardinals: Five bold predictions for 2016

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Jul 5, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Thomas Pham (60) celebrates with left fielder Randal Grichuk (15) after defeating the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Randal Grichuk will not finish the season as the starting center fielder

That’s right! Although MLB Network’s “Shredder” ranks Randal Grichuk as the eighth best center fielder in baseball heading into 2016, the St. Louis Cardinals won’t finish the season with him patrolling their outfield. Here’s how it’s going to happen.

Grichuk will start in center for the season opener, and he’ll play well. Over the next two months, he’ll hit a respectable .250/.315/.450 and play solid defense, doing more than enough to keep his starting role. Meanwhile, Tommy Pham will fill in for all three outfielders occasionally and hit as well as can be expected — posting a .260/.330/.400 line as a bench player.

Then, on June 26th against the Nationals, Grichuk is going to come up lame with a strained hamstring. Pham will finish the game without much fanfare, going 0-2 with a walk. The news will be that Grichuk needs some rest, but shouldn’t need a trip to the DL, so we expect him to be back in a week or so.

Unfortunately for him, he never gets the chance. Tommy Pham starts to play like he did in AAA in 2014, batting an absurd .390/.450/.600 line over the next two weeks. Although Grichuk gets a spot start here and there, he never does enough to take the job away from the hot hand, and Pham just keeps rolling, finishing the season with a .290/.350/.460 line — one of the top two hitters on the team.

Next: Will Adam Wainwright still be the Cardinals' best pitcher?

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