St. Louis Cardinals: Examining Dexter Fowler’s hot streak

ST LOUIS, MO - APRIL 19: Dexter Fowler #25 of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated by third base coach Chris Maloney #77 after hitting a solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the third inning at Busch Stadium on April 19, 2017 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - APRIL 19: Dexter Fowler #25 of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated by third base coach Chris Maloney #77 after hitting a solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the third inning at Busch Stadium on April 19, 2017 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images) /
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The St. Louis Cardinals took their talents to Pittsburgh this weekend and a certain outfielder will hope his hot streak followed suit.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been on quite the tear offensively the last couple weeks. Every night multiple players are contributing and putting up runs like we haven’t seen all season. Not exempt from this impressive stretch is Dexter Fowler. Since returning from his latest DL stint, Fowler has come out hot and shown fans why he got paid in the offseason.

Since returning on August 7th from the 10-day disabled list, Fowler has been as hot as anyone at the plate. In ten games he has posted a .452 average, reaching base safely in 25 of 42 plate appearances. To go along with his stellar average he is also responsible for 11 runs and 11 RBIs in that same time span.

Due to his extremely impressive stretch, Fowler has found himself a home in the cleanup spot in the Cardinals lineup.

Expecting Fowler to keep this pace would be foolish. For a guy who has been a very up and down player in his career, it looks like Fowler is in the up portion of the season. When you look deeper into Fowler’s stats, one number sticks out like a sore thumb. Since his return, Fowler has found himself posting a .565 BABIP. That number is not only astounding, but nearly impossible to maintain.

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Fowler has had success when it comes to his BABIP throughout his career. His career average BABIP is .338 a far cry from the .565 we see him posting in August. On the other hand it is also quite a bit better than fans saw him post through July, which was .265. Expecting that number to middle-out somewhere between .265 and .565 is a realistic expectation.

No matter the situation, it is important to appreciate the hot start Fowler has gotten to since his return. The St. Louis Cardinals spent a lot of money to bring Fowler into the fold for this season. The plan was to have him lead off, unfortunately that didn’t pan out exactly how everyone had planned, but Dexter looks pretty darn good slotted behind Paul DeJong on a regular basis.

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Fowler and the St. Louis Cardinals will be back at it today as the Cardinals take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third of a four-game series. Watch for Fowler to continue on his impressive tear and keep the St. Louis Cardinals in the win column.