St. Louis Cardinals: A Cleanup Hitter Waiting on Zeppelin Wings

The St. Louis Cardinals have a high-octane cleanup hitter already on the team.  The manager just needs to move him from batting second to batting fourth.

It is no secret that the St. Louis Cardinals need a cleanup hitter.  It is no secret that this team also needs a kick in the pants to get going.  The answer to both issues is on the roster, and ready to be entrusted with the role of difference-maker.

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz came into the 2017 season with high expectations.  Aledmys Zeppelin picked up where he left off last year: he is the St. Louis Cardinals most-dangerous and most-consistent hitter.  Indeed, as of the writing of this article, Aledmys carries a stat line of .273/.273/.545 with an OPS+ of 116.

Half of his twelve hits are of the extra-base variety, and the burgeoning star has only five strikeouts, tying him with Yadier Molina and second only to . . . wait for it . . . Kolten Wong for the team low in strikeouts.

Aledmys attacks the zone, makes hard contact, and his speed equates to a player who rarely gets doubled-off.  While he has not recorded a walk this year, he walked 41 times and struck out only 60 times all of last season.

These numbers outline a player who would be a perfect cleanup hitter.  In order to shoot some life into the limping St. Louis Cardinals, manager Mike Matheny should “shake things up” by swapping Diaz and Stephen Piscotty.

By making this switch, the St. Louis Cardinals will finally have an answer to whom they should bat fourth in the order, and will also keep a high on-base guy in the number two hole.  This will maximize Piscotty’s bat (think Carlos Beltran a couple years ago) while allowing an aggressive, speedy hitter that does not strike out often to enter a run-producing role that this team so desperately needs.

Prior experience?

What if I told you that Aledmys is batting a thousand with a home run, a slugging percentage of four thousand, wRC+ of 1234?  You would probably jump to conclusions and criticism on Twitter, or you would ask me, as you should, about the sample size.  My hint to you is that his BABIP is zero as a cleanup hitter.

By now you probably guessed that he has very few at-bats as a cleanup hitter (looking at you and shaking my head, Mike Matheny).  Diaz has one at-bat in the fourth position for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Thus, while we do not have ample history on which to base this decision, there is some merit to simply shaking things up with this team.  The team is lethargic and under-performing – why not put our most electric hitter in that number four spot?

Mike Matheny should not worry about placing undue pressure on Diaz, as these very responsibilities are given to the top shortstops around the league – i.e. Diaz’ peers.  Diaz performs at similar levels to Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, Corey Seager, and Xander Bogaerts.  Correa, for example, found a home in the cleanup spot for the Houston Astros, mainly because their major hitters were not great fits for that role.

The Disappointing Carousel

The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in a similar position to the Houston Astros. Thus far, the team carousel of cleanup hitters includes Jhonny Peralta, Yadier Molina, and Stephen Piscotty.  Peralta has no business being a starter, and certainly no place in the cleanup conversation – he’s out.

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Molina puts the ball in play, but the presence of men on base often means a plethora of double-plays.  Piscotty seems to fit the mold of a cleanup hitter, but his slow start and early-season inconsistency cause some concern.  He also loses an edge to Aledmys based on footspeed and he is more prone to strikeouts than Aledmys.  Advantage Diaz.

Some might say that Diaz should stay in the two-hole because it is an important position in the batting order.  I get it, but that spot seems better-suited for Piscotty who can drive the ball the other way and have Carpenter protecting him, thus increasing the number of fastballs he sees.

We arrive at the conclusion that auditioning Diaz in this role for a week could not hurt.  The St. Louis Cardinals are cellar-dwellers at this point and need a jolt.  Matheny should ignore his predispositions and give the youngster a challenge to produce for this team.  Something has to change.

Next: Aledmys Poised for Sophomore Surge

Aledmys Zeppelin is exciting.  He plays the game hard.  He is aggressive in the zone, yet he does not strike out very often.  He will excel regardless of where he hits in the batting order, but this slouching team could maximize his abilities by batting him fourth to get the boat steered in the right direction.  Trying anything new would be refreshing – this move has the added advantage of making sense.