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St. Louis Cardinals: Four Cardinals make SI’s top 100 players

By Russ Robinson

ST. LOUIS, MO - MAY 2: Yadier Molina
ST. LOUIS, MO - MAY 2: Yadier Molina /
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This week Sports Illustrated released their list of the top 100 MLB players of 2018 that included only four St. Louis Cardinals.  What’s interesting is who made the list , their rank, and who didn’t make this list.

Sports Illustrated’s list of the top 100 MLB players of 2018 ranged from Mike Trout at the number one spot to Todd Frazier, who came in at number 100.  However, it include only four St. Louis Cardinals, Matt Carpenter, Tommy Pham, Carlos Martinez, and Marcell Ozuna.

That’s right, no Yadier Molina.  More on that later.

In fact the highest ranking Cardinal is Marcell Ozuna who comes in at number 45.  Carlos Martinez comes in at 49, Tommy Pham at 51, and Matt Carpenter at 92.  Former Cardinal Lance Lynn comes in at 93.

Before we get into the details from SI on why these individual Cardinals ranked where they did, let’s look at the criteria SI used.

SI said the goal was to identify the players most likely to “have an impact on the 2018 season, based on past performance, injury history, and future predictors.”  SI also created a weighted WAR average over the last three seasons.

According to SI, the goal was to evaluate each player independently as best as they could.  The essential question they asked: Which player would you rather have if you compiled a roster in 2018?  The player that was universally agreed upon received the higher rating.  Finally, salary and 2018 rookies were not considered.

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SI admits that the list will be inexact, controversial, and will exclude players that fans will think are essential.

With SI’s parameters identified, let’s look at the Cardinals on the list, their rankings, and my summary on SI’s comments.

Matt Carpenter: SI points out Carpenter’s career low batting average of ..241 in 2017, but recognizes high OBP (.384) and 109 walks.  “Even when he’s slumping, he won’t be an easy out” according to the SI’s Gabriel Baumgaertner.

However the SI writers feel his defensive value is decreasing with age and prevents him from being rated higher.  Nevertheless, SI recognizes that when Carpenter is up in a high leveraged situation, “the opposing pitcher and fans can never feel comfortable.”

Tommy Pham:  SI calls Pham “one of the breakout stars of 2017 and now the centerpiece of the 2018 lineup.”  Acknowledging his 2017 slash line of .306/.411/..520, along with his 23 HR and 25 SB, Baumgaetner says the Cardinals should now feel comfortable with Pham.

Carlos Martinez: SI calls Martinez “one of the great workhorses” and recognizes his power sinker and four-seam fastball.  Although they point out that Martinez gave up more home runs last year, SI also credits his career high strike outs(207) and career low WHIP(1.220).

Marcell Ozuna : Gabrield Baungaertner of SI calls Ozuna’s 2017 season a “triple crown quality season.”  SI pointed out his .312 BA, 37 HR, 124 RBI, 145 OPS, 5.8 WAR and gold glove in 2017 could make him a top-20 talent in the future.  His future consistency is the only question left, according to SI.

Many Cardinal fans will be interested to know Lance Lynn came in at number 93.  SI points out Lynn made at least 29 starts in each of his five seasons as a big league starter.  They also note Lynn never finished a season with a ERA higher than 3.97.  Baungaertner calls Lance Lynn, “Mr Dependable”, and finds it “confounding” that he is still a free agent.

Cardinal fans will find interesting free agent Eric Hosmer only came in a the 97th spot, five below Matt Carpenter.  Hosmer,  desired by many Card fans, skills are not highly regarded by SI writers.  SI’s Jack Dickey notes Hosmer’s SLG percentage of .465 the last two seasons ranks 56th in MLB.  Dickey also points out 57% of the balls he has put in play during that period have been grounders.  Hosmer only trails Dee Gordon in that category.  Finally the SI writers says advanced metrics “loath his defense.”

Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong were on the list of those missed the cut, but were seriously considered by the SI staff to make the top 100 list,.

Paul DeJong was on the list of Up-and-comers who didn’t make it.  The writers did not give a specific reason why DeJong was left off, but the lack of a track record is given for most of the others this list.  Andrew Benintendi of the Red Sox,  James Paxton of the Mariners, and Aaron Nola of the Phillies were also included on the Up-and-comers list.

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Yadier Molina was included on the “The Sun is Setting” list.  Gabriel Baumgaetner says, “Molina remains one of the great team leaders in the game and still an excellent defender, but he’s logged so many innings that it’s starting to take a toll on his offense.”

Jay Jaffe said some of the players are Cooperstown bound, but “age and injuries have their trend arrows pointing in the wrong direction.”  Joining Molina on this list is Andrew McCutchen, Miguel Cabera, Joe Mauer, and Dustin Pedroia.

My analysis of this list is there’s much subjectivity to it.  Even the SI writers admit it’s inexact and controversial.  However, other than Molina and possibly DeJong, I would have a hard time adding any other Cardinal at this time.

I respect the SI writers effort and time they obviously put into this work. Even though, I might disagree about Molina, this is a piece that was well done.

If you want to read the SI article yourself, you may find it here.

Next: Which pitcher is most important to the Cards?

What’s your opinion on Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 MLB Players?  Let’s us know.

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