St. Louis Cardinals: Allen Craig’s Fall From Grace and Attempted Redemption

Former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder and first baseman Allen Craig enters 2017 with an uncertain future as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He hasn’t appeared in a major league game since the end of the 2015 season.

It was around this time four years ago that the St. Louis Cardinals signed their incumbent first baseman Allen Craig to a 5 year, $31 million contract. It was a club-friendly deal for a player who hit .307 and drove in 92 runs in the previous season, 2012.

Craig lived up to all expectations in the first year of his contract, when he hit .315 and drove in 97 runs (only 13 home runs), while hitting a remarkable .454 with runners in scoring position. He earned his first All-Star selection in 2013. However, he missed the last month of the regular season due to a foot injury.

Allen Craig was the heartbeat of the Cardinals’ offensive attack in 2013. He took most of his at-bats from the cleanup position, and paced a team that hit with runners in scoring position at a record-setting clip. When Craig was on, he was one of the toughest outs in the National League.

2013 was the peak of Craig’s career as a Cardinal, but many more memories of no. 21 rush to mind from his time in St. Louis.

He started games at first base, second base, third base, left field, center field, and right field in 2011. His .315 average that year matched his All-Star year for career-best. He posted a career-best OPS of .917. In the postseason that year, he hit four home runs.

He contributed go-ahead RBI pinch-hits in the first two games of the World Series against the Texas Rangers. He went deep in the eighth inning of Game 6. His home run in Game 7 of the World Series was the game’s winning run. And of course, he caught the final out of that memorable Fall Classic.

In 2012, he swatted a career-best 22 home runs. He hit .316 in the Division Series against the Washington Nationals. He signed his contract extension prior to the following season.

Fast-forward now to Spring Training 2017. He’s entering the final year of that contract, now as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He’s due $11 million and will likely begin the year at triple-A, where he spent the entire 2016 season when he wasn’t injured.

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What happened? Well, early in September 2013 Craig twisted his ankle in Cincinnati. He wasn’t placed on the disabled list since rosters had expanded and his spot on the roster wasn’t taking up any space, but he didn’t appear in a game again until the World Series a month and a half later. Even then, he was relegated to designated hitter duties in Boston and pinch-hit duties in St. Louis.

Still, he made an impact on the Series, particularly at the infamous end of Game 3.

In 2014, Craig struggled for the Cardinals. He was traded mid-season to Boston along with Joe Kelly. In return, the Cardinals received pitchers John Lackey and Corey Littrell. Craig hit the disabled list a week later. The reason? Left foot sprain. That was inextricably linked to the injury that held him out for over a month at the end of 2013, and contributed to his struggles throughout 2014.

Craig’s struggles continued for the first month of the 2015 season. In early May, he was optioned to triple-A Pawtucket. He wouldn’t see Boston again until September, when teams can promote any members of their 40-man roster.

However, att the end of the 2015 season, Craig was erased from Boston’s 40-man roster and reassigned to triple-A. He spent all of 2016 in the minor leagues. He also spent about three months total on the disabled list with oblique and knee injuries.

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Craig’s struggles the previous three seasons seemed to have stemmed from that fateful ankle-roll in Cincinnati. Without a strong base, his timing and swing were likely compromised, he probably rushed back too soon from the injury, and what should have been the prime of his career has been dormant as a result.

Take a look at Craig’s numbers with St. Louis compared to his time so far in Boston:

St. Louis (2010-2014): .291/.343/.460, 57 HR, 291 RBI, 20% at-bats were strikeouts

Boston (2014-2015): .139/.236/.197, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 36% at-bats were strikeouts

At triple-A in 2015, he hit .274 in 93 games, but was unable to drive the ball like he did from 2011-2013. Last year, he hit .173 in 22 triple-A games.

Craig’s free fall from being an MLB All-Star to struggling in the minor leagues has been due, foremost, to a lack of health. He enters the 2017 season slated to begin the year where he ended it last, in triple-A. He’s currently in Red Sox camp as a non-roster invitee. Through March 13, he’s hit .231 with a home run and six runs batted in (26 at-bats).

As of now, he and the organization are cautiously optimistic that with injury concerns behind him, he’ll be able to find success at triple-A and position himself for a promotion back to Boston.

Craig has already enjoyed success in the major leagues. He paced the Cardinals from the 2011 World Series run through the 2013 National League championship season. He was a cornerstone of the St. Louis lineup for the first part of the team’s recent run of postseason appearances.

2017 is the last year on his current 5 year contract. It’s unlikely Boston picks up the $13 million club option for 2018. The buyout on the option would cost $1 million.

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Watching his struggles the past few years has been painful for those who remember that he was a big-time player in the 2011 postseason and nothing short of a run-producing machine in 2012 and 2013. Here’s to seeing Craig once again reach those heights, whether it’s with Boston this season, or another organization in the future.