St. Louis Cardinals: Center field options
The St. Louis Cardinals have an overabundance of outfielders but does this mean they have viable options?
As Steven covered yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals are experimenting with Kolten Wong in center field in an effort to find him playing time in St. Louis rather than being subjected and “stuck” (as it was) in Memphis. Is this the best option?
Let’s take a look first at what might have urged the Cardinals to slot Wong into center field in the first place.
First up, Randal Grichuk. Grichuk came out of spring training firing on all cylinders. Grichuk seemed like a real win for the Cardinals but this has soured of late. Grichuk currently owns a 2016 slash line of .210/.281/.400.
In the last fifteen games, Grichuk has managed to amass a line of .127/.186/.273. Soured for sure.
Next up, Jeremy Hazelbaker. Hazelbaker also had a great a great spring and even took this success into the season. But like Grichuk above, Hazelbaker also fell out of favor of late. On the season, Hazelbaker (a pinch-hitting prowess for sure), holds a season slash line of .252/.288/.776.
In the last fifteen games, Hazelbaker owns a slash line of .231/.231/.231. No joke.
In tonight’s contest against the Astros, Stephen Piscotty manned center as the other two options above just aren’t strong enough to hold center. In addition, moving Piscotty allowed for Brandon Moss AND Matt Holliday to play.
Having mentioned this, however, Piscotty has also had a rough time lately batting only .200 in the past seven games and .204 in the past fifteen games.
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Looking into the Memphis roster, Tommy Pham and Charlie Tilson lay in wait. Pham is currently holding a slash line in Memphis of .216/.328/.314. Tilson is currently holding a slash line in Memphis of .248/.324/.350. See anything better than what is sitting in grass in St. Louis?
Enter the thought of Wong. Wong’s Memphis slash line (albeit a small sample size) is .417/.517/1.000! Wow, right?
But how has he fared in his appearances in center? As of tonight (6/15), Wong has now been spotted manning the center position in two games across nineteen innings. In these, he has had three chances for out and in which he has recorded two putouts. He has recorded one outfield assist from center and holds a 1.000 fielding percentage.
The sample is surely small, but as Steven mentioned the risk is worth the taking. This is never more evidenced by the numbers presented by current outfielders patrolling St. Louis’ center.
One thing more: players such as Wong rarely increase their value for trade by playing in the minors. Read into his center field play then the fact that the organization needs him to either (1) man the position in St. Louis as well, or (2) man the position in St. Louis long enough to generate value. Or, heck, both.
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I personally like the idea of Wong at center because I do not personally see Wong lasting with the birds on the bat beyond this season or even beyond the trade deadline. With this line of thinking then, we need him to get all the value he can muster.