St. Louis Cardinals: The End of Jhonny Peralta

Spring training too often spells injury for the St. Louis Cardinals and horrid news struck today: Jhonny Peralta suffered torn ligament in left thumb and will be out for 2-3 months. What if he never returns?

My stomach dropped just moments ago when I read the news of Jhonny Peralta‘s impending absence for a good part of the St. Louis Cardinals season. 2-3 months spells his absence into June and my best guess is that we won’t see him resurface until after the all-star break. Great. Just great. So what happens now in light of losing this stabilizing force? Let’s look at the options.

Before diving into the options, let’s look at what we are losing so we can compare. Peralta’s offensive slash line is .268/.331/.426 in his career of thirteen seasons. Last season with the Cardinals he posted a slash line of .275/.334/.411. Defensively in his career (1,452 games at short stop) he holds a .980 fielding percentage. Last season with the Cardinals he posted a .986 fielding percentage.

Internal Options

Jedd Gyorko

Gyorko was brought to the Cardinals for backup and to spell some rest for Peralta. Now, with this imposed lengthy rest, Gyorko may see the bulk of time at short stop. In his career, Gyorko has appeared at short stop in 29 games and posting a .990 fielding percentage. Offensively, Gyorko is projected (Steamer) to produce a slash line of .253/.310/.421. Gyorko could spell relief and certainly would be better than last year’s Pete Kozma!

Greg Garcia

Moving down the depth chart- but more naturally at short stop- Garcia has appeared in thirteen games across his two seasons of MLB experience at short stop and has posted a .971 fielding percentage. Offensively, Garcia is projected to produce a slash lline of .252/.327/.341. If these projections hold true, although a slight toss-up, a better bet might be Gyorko.

Aledmys Diaz

Diaz has been heralded as the future short stop for the Cardinals since his signing in 2014. 2016 was likely to be a season in which he made his debut but this turn of events might well have accelerated that debut. In his career at short stop (216 games) he has posted a .953 fielding percentage but none at the major league level. Offensively, Steamer projects his 2016 slash line to be .254/.297/.379. He clearly needs experience at the major league level but this could spell his entrance.

Dean Anna

Likely the dark horse and — in my opinion — a stretch to replace Peralta, Anna does sit in the wings should his backup abilities be necessary. In his career (9 games at short stop), Anna holds a .947 fielding percentage. His offensive line is projected to be .246/.323/.338. Likely not the solution to this issue but could be part of a solution should the organization look outside the walls.

External Options

Let me be clear that I’m not sold the organization would dive into a trade because of this in light of the short timeline to return but let’s look at a few options.

Erick Aybar

Aybar is currently with Atlanta but could be had in a trade since 2016 is his walk year. Aybar could well be an immediate replacement for Peralta. In his career he has appeared at short stop in 1,134 games and has posted a .973 fielding percentage. He is projected to produce a slash line of .271/.309/.371. Again, this would be great but at what cost? Would we sacrifice one of the names above and an arm?

Troy Tulowitzki

Tulo has been rumored often to come to the Cardinals. Is this the action necessary to make the organization pull the trigger on a trade? Tulo, as all fans know, is amazing at short stop and with the bat but is often injured. Tulo holds a career .986 fielding percentage at short stop (1,072 games). He is projected to produce a .260/.334/.441 slash line in 2016. Tulo has a large contract (signed through 2020) and would certainly cost much more than Aybar. Should we pull the trigger?

This is not likely to happen, as Toronto is the favorite in the NL East. Things would have to go very wrong for Toronto to be willing to send him off so quick after acquiring him just last season.

Summation

I’m not sold that a knee-jerk reaction is necessary. At least not right now. Let us all breathe and ride through spring and see where the team stands. With the depth of middle infielders already on the squad, patience seems a much better choice at this point. As we have learned in past seasons when injury befalls our birds, Mozeliak is not so quick to move and rightfully so: moving at this point only allows another team to demand more and get more.

Next: The End of Matt Holliday

Again, I think the best action is to wait through spring and see what our depth can provide. Should the warmer weather of April approach and the organization feel the stress, then perhaps a dip into an Aybar or Tulo trade could happen. And besides, we have no idea what other injuries may be waiting over the next hill especially with the likes of Jaime Garcia on the squad!