St. Louis Cardinals: Preseason Roster Predictions Part 3

Bench

Brandon Moss

It’s nothing personal or anything like that, I really just don’t like much about Moss. He had offseason hip surgery ahead of 2015, yet, he never really mentioned hip troubles or lack of leg strength until campaigning for the first base job this off season.

This brings up a couple of questions for me.

If he wasn’t healthy last year (I don’t know whether he was or wasn’t), was that made clear prior to the trade that landed him in St. Louis? Who’s to say the hip issue is fully resolved? Just because he says he feels good and expects 20 home runs, we should assume he will go back to producing like he did in Oakland?

It is my opinion that Moss peaked with the A’s. The Cardinals and Mozeliak had their backs against the wall at the deadline last year, and they reached for a guy that was borderline healthy to say they did something at the deadline.

I could be dead wrong, and I will eat my words if/when I’m proven wrong. I don’t have a list of statistics or media reports to back me on this, just a personal feel for the situation. As it stands, I have Moss starting out as Adams’ backup at first base. I see him spelling Adams at first, Holliday in left and Piscotty in right, while serving as a left-handed pinch hit option late in games.

Randal Grichuk

I’m not quite as high on Grichuk as most. Again, I don’t have any real big reasons, other than the fact that he struck out 110 times in 323 at-bats a season ago. That is more than one strike out every three times to the plate. That is way too many.

On the flip side, the bat speed and subsequent exit velocity that Grichuk is capable of producing has to excite you. We are going to watch Grichuk hit some long home runs in his career. If he starts putting the bat on the ball at a more frequent clip, he COULD develop into a 30 homer a year guy.

I have Grichuk listed on the bench here because I think that Tommy Pham is going to come out hungrier and he’s going to be better this spring.

I still think Grichuk ends the season with 350-400 plate appearances, though. In fact, I don’t think any Cardinal outfielder will have more than 500 at-bats this year. I think that all four guys are going to push each other, and Matheny will employ more of a platoon approach with match ups and how guys are performing.

Jedd Gyorko

Jedd Gyorko is going to see plenty of action at plenty of spots on the field in 2016. He’s an instant power threat off the bench. He’s capable of playing all four infield positions.

Matheny will play match ups at second base and Gyorko figures to see all the action against lefties.

There is even an outside possibility that, should Wong struggle, Gyorko could take over full-time second base duties, particularly if he provides that lineup with a consistent power source.

Greg Garcia

I’ve got Garcia as the last positional player to make the roster out of camp, mostly due to his experience backing up Peralta at shortstop.

I think that Aledmys Diaz is the face of the future at shortstop for the Cardinals, but I don’t think he will be ready for the Major League level at the start of April.

I hope that Garcia sees plenty of game action, giving Peralta the rest that he needs. We have to have Peralta fresh and ready to go in September and October. The Cardinals cannot afford a second half offensive free-fall like Peralta went through last year.

Giving Garcia plenty of opportunities at shortstop should help him develop at the big league level while keeping Peralta fresh for an entire season.

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