St. Louis Cardinals: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Several St. Louis Cardinals players have kicked it into gear lately and others have been ice cold. See who rounds out this week’s Who’s Hot, Who’s Not list.

Welcome to the first addition of what I hope to be weekly or bi-weekly posts of Who’s Hot, Who’s Not for the St. Louis Cardinals. We’ll take a look at some of the Cardinals hottest hitters and pitchers as well as those guys that are ice cold.

These will be quick hits on players that give you some insight and maybe some stats and trends that you haven’t noticed every two weeks. This week’s edition takes a look at several players. Granted, these are small sample sizes, but small sample sizes can still show us good or bad trends.

Let’s start with who’s hot.

1. Stephen Piscotty

It should come as no surprise to Cardinals fans that right fielder Stephen Piscotty sits at the top of this list. Piscotty isn’t just the hottest hitter on this Cardinals team — he is arguably one of the hottest hitters in the National League right now.

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Piscotty’s .381 May average ranks 9th in the NL. Over his last 15 games, Piscotty has a .400/.438/.600 line with a 1.038 OPS, six doubles, two homers and 12 RBI. He is still striking out quite a bit (17.2 strikeout percentage during that time) and his .468 BABIP during those last 15 games tells us that he is due to probably not have quite as much luck on those balls put in play. Still, the 25-year old has been a breath of fresh air for this Cardinals lineup in his first full season.

2. Matt Carpenter

After a slow start in the first month of the season that saw Matt Carpenter hit just .230 with 21 strikeouts in 24 games, it seems that the Cardinals third baseman has finally turned a corner. Over his last 15 games Carpenter is hitting .288/.381/.538 with four doubles, three homers, eight RBI and a .919 OPS.

Despite even those first month struggles, Carpenter’s 22 RBI tie him for the team-lead with Piscotty. If Carpenter can continue to stay hot, this Cardinals lineup will be more dangerous going forward.

3. Jaime Garcia

There are several other players who could have made this week’s list including Aledmys Diaz and Carlos Martinez. But one pitcher has been anchoring this Cardinals rotation lately — Jaime Garcia.

After last night’s fantastic start, Garcia is now 2-0 with a 0.00(!) ERA, 2.37 FIP, 0.50 WHIP and a 2.00 SIERA in the month of May. Garcia’s 65.7 ground ball percentage is a big reason for his hot start this month. But the 29-year old lefty has also gotten his fair share of strikeouts with 13 punchouts in 14 innings. Garcia has been fantastic in 2016, and he is certainly setting himself up for a nice payday after this season if he can stay fully healthy. We’ll see.

Now, let’s take a look at who is cooling off.

1. Jeremy Hazelbaker

Jeremy Hazelbaker has been a great story. He is a guy who struggled so many years in the minors and then burst onto the scene in Triple-A last year when the Cardinals signed him for outfield depth. He then turned enough heads in spring training to crack a roster spot. However, Hazelbaker has been cooling down.

Over his last 13 games, the 28-year old outfielder is hitting just .231 with one double, one homer, one RBI and a miserable 40.0 strikeout percentage. I am rooting for Hazelbaker to stick in the Majors, but with Tommy Pham and Jhonny Peralta knocking on the door to come back in June, it may be a matter of time before Hazelbaker is out of the chances that he is getting. Still, he is a better option off the bench than Ruben Tejada.

2. Jedd Gyorko

Jedd Gyorko has been a decent spot starter and bench bat for the St. Louis Cardinals, especially the first few weeks of the season. That, coupled with Kolten Wong‘s battle with the flu, earned Gyorko several starts. But the 27-year old has quickly fallen back to earth.

Over his last 15 games, Gyorko is hitting just .229/.288/.417 with a .705 OPS, and only one double, two homers and five RBI. Granted, Wong has had his struggles to start the year, but with the Cardinals faith in signing him to an extension and him now over his sickness, you have to think it is going to be sooner rather than later that Wong snatches back most of those starts at second base.

3. Randal Grichuk

Randal Grichuk has been an interesting case this season, and the Cardinals center fielder continues to frustrate at the plate. Grichuk is hitting just .186/.234/.326 with a .560 OPS in his last 14 games. Watching Grichuk, you can tell that he is simply still searching for it at the plate. During that 14-game stretch, he does have two homers and 7 RBI and his 19.0 strikeout percentage during that time is actually much lower than the 31.4 K% he put up in 2015.

But Grichuk’s issue has always been plate discipline, and pitchers know that. He will continue to get a steady dose of breaking balls until he can prove he can hit them consistently. The 24-year is still exhibiting growing pains, but be patient with him. If Grichuk can continue to improve that strikeout percentage and start staying back on those breaking balls, this Cardinals offense will be even more lethal.

Next: Cardinals: MLB Draft Preview Part 1

That’s my Who’s Hot, Who’s Not list for this week. Who do you think didn’t crack the list that should have? Drop me a line on Twitter and let me know. Thanks for reading.