St. Louis Cardinals: Deserving All-Star Candidates

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Aug 9, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) is greeted by first baseman Brandon Moss (21) and left fielder Stephen Piscotty (55) after hitting a three run home run in the seventh inning during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /

Who didn’t make the cut?

Carpenter, Diaz, and Oh have all been tremendous pieces of this St. Louis Cardinals team, despite any media hype or real attention (until recently). The Redbirds may not have any starters, but it can be certain that these three are as good candidates as any to travel to San Diego and rep the birds on the bat.

However, it wasn’t so easy to only select these three. A couple St. Louis Cardinals have made a case for them to represent St. Louis in San Diego, but for one reason or another, didn’t quite make the cut as a completely deserving All-Star.

Stephen Piscotty (OF)

Piscotty was a tough case to make either way. On one hand, he’s had a solid sophomore year at the plate, smacking 9 home runs and knocking in 40 while hovering around the .290-.300 mark in terms of batting average. He gets on base often, around 37% of the time, with a 10% walk rate and 17% strikeout rate.

Piscotty’s defense and baserunning have never been essential parts of his repertoire, and although his defense in right field this season has seemed serviceable, he has in fact been worth negative runs in both categories.

However, going against Piscotty is the fact that the starting outfielders won’t necessarily be those most deserving; specifically, Bryce Harper, who hasn’t even come close to his 2015 numbers or even a real solid stat line.

Meanwhile, the more deserving outfielders (Starling Marte, Christian Yelich, etc.) are stuck behind Jason Heyward, who has been a disappointment at the plate and undeserving of an All-Star appearance (even without personal bias). They will likely be the first in line to be selected for reserves, with Piscotty stuck a few spots behind.

Brandon Moss (1B)

Moss has been a pleasant point of success on the 2016 St. Louis Cardinals, and a bit of relief to most, knowing that last year’s trade that sent pitching prospect Rob Kaminsky to Cleveland was not wasted.

Moss has been one of the biggest power bats in the lineup, smacking 17 home runs, including one this week that broke the Busch Stadium III record in terms of length, clocking in at 477 feet.

Moss’ approach has been what it’s always been: high power, high strikeouts, low average. His numbers back that up: he leads the St. Louis Cardinals in home runs … and strikeouts, while sporting a .251 average (actually on the high side for a hitter of his type).

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This is not a bad approach by any means, especially in a lineup that has guys like Matt Carpenter and Stephen Piscotty, who get on base frequently. However, Moss’ All-Star case is diminished, similarly to Carpenter, by the fact that he’s listed as a first baseman, a position with no shortage of talented hitters in the Padres’ Wil Myers (who fellow writers Josh Brown and Dr. Michael D. Miles have quite a fancy for), Arizona’s Silver Slugger winner Paul Goldschmidt, and the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo, who absolutely dominated the fan voting with nearly double the votes of second place Brandon Belt, the Giants’ 1B.

Despite Moss’ pleasantly great offensive season for the St. Louis Cardinals, his numbers pale in comparison to the National League’s elite at first.

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