St. Louis Cardinals: Making New Year Resolutions For The Cardinals

New Year Resolutions for the St. Louis Cardinals outfield.

Randal Grichuk: Mash 30+ home runs to lead the team.

Randal Grichuk’s most intriguing attribute has to be his power. While this ability comes with a high propensity to strike out and a low tendency to walk, it also makes Grichuk very valuable at the plate.

Last season, Grichuk blasted 24 homers for the St. Louis Cardinals. Of course, Grichuk also spent 23 games in AAA where he knocked another 6 out of the park, putting him at 30 in 155 total games. While Grichuk needs to improve his consistency, he has already proven he has 30+ home run power. If he can do so again next year, but hit them all for the MLB club, he could be one of the team’s most dangerous hitters.

Dexter Fowler: Bring back #HighSocksSunday.

“High Socks Sunday” was started in 2012 by Daniel Descalso and promoted by Jon Jay. With Descalso leaving for Colorado after 2014 and Jay being moved to San Diego after 2015, the fun tradition seemed to disappear.

During the High Socks Sunday tenure, which I define as 2012 through 2015, the St. Louis Cardinals had a .579 winning percentage. Last year, without the tradition, the Cardinals had only a .541 winning percentage.

Luckily for the Cardinals, they now have a player who loves wearing his socks high, no matter the day (we’ll forgive him for the uniform since he struck out in this at-bat). That player is Dexter Fowler, and he is on a mission to Make the Clubhouse Fun Again. Well, he should start by going around on Sunday afternoons and replacing his teammates full length pants with ones that stop around the knee.

Stephen Piscotty: Lead the Cardinals in RBI.

Piscotty will slot in as the St. Louis Cardinals cleanup hitter for 2017. With OBP monsters Fowler, Diaz, and Carpenter ahead of him, Piscotty will get a ton of opportunities to bat with runners on base, and often in scoring position.

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Fortunately for the Cardinals, Piscotty’s profile fits well in the cleanup spot. With none on, he has only hit .258 in his career. With men on, his average jumps to .314. Further, with RISP, his career average registers way up at .372. Slotting in behind these three hitters should bring out the best we have seen from Piscotty and give him the chance to emerge as one of the best run producers in the National League.

Tommy Pham: Avoid the Disabled List for the entire season.

In the absence of any further acquisitions, Tommy Pham is likely to serve as the St. Louis Cardinals fourth outfielder next season. His last few years at the MLB and Minor League levels show that he is worthy of that role when healthy. Of course, he has missed parts of almost every season since 2010. The St. Louis Cardinals are making a bet on his talent, counting on him to stay healthy and produce in 2017.

Next: 2016 Roller Coaster

Ultimately, the St. Louis Cardinals will need to see improvement across the board if they want to contend for the division and World Series in 2017. If most of these players can hold up to these New Year Resolutions, the team will be in good shape come next October.