St. Louis Cardinals: Randal Grichuk and Kyle Schwarber, two bangers

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ST. LOUIS, MO – AUGUST 12: Manager Mike Matheny /

For several years, the St. Louis Cardinals and their fans have been awaiting the full, realized potential of Randal Grichuk. In his fourth major league campaign, chances are strong that we’ve actually seen it. The question becomes, now what?

To do a good old fashioned “compare and contrast” paper – remember those from your early school days? – we’ll look at the Randal Grichuk question faced by the St. Louis Cardinals in tandem with the situation of an intra-division rival, the Chicago Cubs young stud, Kyle Schwarber.

But first, some table setting. Grichuk arrived in St. Louis a relative unknown, a Los Angeles Angels prospect accompanying big-league speedster Peter Bourjos to the Gateway City in exchange for 2011 playoff hero David Freese and pitcher Fernando Salas.

Grichuk was a big deal from a potential perspective. He was an amazing all-state Texas high school player (from the currently beleaguered Houston area), and initially committed to the University of Arizona before he was drafted 24th (and signed) by the Angels one spot before — yes, stranger than truth — Mike Trout.

From the start, Grich was a power and glove guy. Despite some early injuries in his pro career, he proved a home run masher and a defensive wiz, capturing the 2013 minor league Gold Glove as a right fielder at the AA level.

Other than sharing a high draft status, the same was hardly true of Schwarber. A stellar career with Indiana University and the United States national collegiate team preceded his professional life. The Cubs selected him fourth in the 2014 amateur draft, based on his prowess with the stick, and as with Grichuk, he was rated exceptionally high for his raw power.

MILWAUKEE, WI – AUGUST 30: Randal Grichuk #15 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a home run in the fifth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on August 30, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals have Randal Grichuk and the Chicago Cubs have Kyle Schwarber; they are eerily similar and eerily different.

The factors in the previous slide show the similarities in these outfielders for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cubs, however, the similarities end there.

Even early on, scouts and journalists were concerned about how Schwarber, a catcher-then-outfielder, might fit in on the defensive side. Unlike Grichuk, he was not particularly adept in the field, and was, shall we say, rather plodding afoot.

Still, Schwarber appeared to put it all together offensively much faster than Grichuk. In his brief minor-league stint spanning 2014-2015, Schwarber had a well-over-.400 OBP in around 600 plate appearances, matching his power and batting average in the .300s with a fine eye that drew almost 90 walks.

Not so much with Grich. As he bounced from minors to majors during the 2014-2016 seasons, Randal certainly showed the pop that was expected of him — but with extremely little discipline for the most part.

Oh, those strikeouts and oh, that absence of walks! By failing to learn how to lay off those pitches outside the strike zone — most notably the low, outside slider and the above-the-zone fastball — Grich couldn’t muster a consistent enough on-base to be taken as seriously as he might have.

His somewhat higher batting average of .276, sandwiched between two seasons thirty to forty points lower, allowed for a reasonable .329 OBP in 2015. Trouble was, his BAbip (batting average for balls in play) that year was a torrid .365, which even for a screaming line drive hitter like Grich, was likely unsustainable.

The difference between Schwarber and Grichuk was notable from the time Kyle hit the bigs. In his partial 2015 season, as he set the baseball world agog, he posted a 130 OPS+, despite a .246 batting average.

Why? Because Schwarber’s walk totals allowed him to post a very respectable .355 OBP. And his BAbip was a normal .293, leading some to wonder if the lower batting average was simply a blip. While he missed the 2016 regular season due to injury, his ridiculous playoff performance suggested Superman incarnate.

But then 2017 arrived, and for both Grich and Schwarbs, the results were revealing indeed.

For Randal, the current season started out WYSIWYG — what you see is what you get. For the first half, he was powering well enough but with only 16 walks, producing a below-.700 OPS.

The second half, however, has shown a bit of a turn, just not on the selectivity side. A batting average of about fifty points higher than normal has produced a nice OPS, despite — and yes, when you read this, rest assured it’s not a misprint — six walks, in only about 140 at bats.

Schwarber, too, hit the ground jogging instead of running this year. He couldn’t keep his BA over even the Mendoza line of .200 for the first couple months, leading to a demotion to AAA to figure things out.

But figure them out he has. While he has not shown the lofty averages he demonstrated in the minors, again his batting eye has led to a fine complement of on-base and slugging skills after his return. From June to August, he has not had an OPS of less than .850.

PHOENIX, AZ – JUNE 27: Outfielder Randal Grichuk #15 of the St. Louis Cardinals makes a diving catch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on June 27, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Cardinals 6-5 in 10 innings. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals have Randal Grichuk and the Chicago Cubs have Kyle Schwarber; what happens to each in his respective club is yet to be seen.

So that’s the history. The most significant question in comparing these two is what comes next, and how to assess their respective worth to their big-league teams. Will the St. Louis Cardinals have a plan for Grichuk for the future? Will the Cubs cut ties with Schwarber?

For Grichuk, St. Louis Cardinals management has now seen parts of four years in the Show. They know several things that can be slotted into the “fairly sure” category.

One, that he can hit with tremendous bat velocity and go yard at a great clip.

Two, that he can slot into a major-league outfield with zero problem, as his range and arm can readily fill any of three positions at an average or above level.

But what they also know is that there has been zero change in his ability to lay off certain balls outside the strike zone. None. No change. Even with his uptick in average the last couple months, which we hope he can retain (but have doubt about), he has once again proven unable to avoid chasing in certain zones, and walks almost not at all.

That means the St. Louis Cardinals most likely recognize they have a high-power, high-strikeout, fleet afoot outfielder who isn’t dependable enough at the plate to slot into any batting order spot above the six hole.

But can they afford that luxury when the team has so many other outfield options, and has few proven difference-makers in the lineup that can sustain a substantial OPS?

To answer that question, we return to Schwarber. He appears to have returned to his capable offensive role, with a somewhat modest average offset by his ability to take walks.

St. Louis Cardinals: Randal Grichuk and Kyle Schwarber, a tale of two bangers

For several years, the St. Louis Cardinals and their fans have been awaiting the full, realized potential of Randal Grichuk. In his fourth major league campaign, chances are strong that we’ve actually seen it. The question becomes, now what?

The St. Louis Cardinals have Randal Grichuk and the Chicago Cubs have Kyle Schwarber; they are eerily similar and eerily different.

The St. Louis Cardinals have Randal Grichuk and the Chicago Cubs have Kyle Schwarber; what happens to each in his respective club is yet to be seen.

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