St. Louis Cardinals: Jordan Schafer’s future in baseball

After the St. Louis Cardinals’ game on Sunday against the Astros,  Jordan Schafer, along with a few other players, was sent to minor league camp. But what does the future hold for Jordan Schafer?

Jordan Schafer is a left-handed pitcher who can also play the outfield. After being sent to minor league camp after Sunday’s game, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Mathney told him he has a few days to decide if he wants to be a major league pitcher or outfielder, as reported by Derrick Goold.

Schafer hasn’t see major league action since he was with the Minnesota Twins in 2015 when he was playing in the outfield. That year he held a .217 batting average and had a .250 on-base percentage while playing in just 27 games.

Through his entire major league career, he has a .228 average, hitting 12 home runs, 85 runs batted in, a .308 on-base percentage and 103 stolen bases while playing for the Twins, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves.

More from Redbird Rants

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects

Schafer started to transform himself into a pitcher in 2016 with the Arizona Fall League Dodgers and then later played for the Tulsa Drillers and the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

During the season he pitched in 40 games, starting two of them, having a 3.38 earned run average and allowing just five home runs in 49 1/3 innings pitched.

As reported in a earlier article, Schafer was reportedly the next rising Rick Ankiel before his 2017 season came to a sudden halt due to a left elbow injury. Schafer avoided getting Tommy John surgery.

In March of 2017, instead of replacing his ulnar collateral ligament, the Cardinals team doctor decided to repair the ligament, which helped speed up his recovery time.

Schafer has the chance to be a good option for the St. Louis Cardinals to have as a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen if he shows commitment to being a pitcher. Offensively though, he has tremendous speed which could also help the Cardinals as that is something the team has lacked in recent years.

This spring, Schafer made two appearances out of the bullpen just pitching 2/3 innings, giving up six hits, seven earned runs and one home run. Even with his rough spring, I believe that he could make an impact for the Cardinals while coming out of the pen in the future.

Next: Six Man Rotation: Pros and Cons

With the decision left for Schafer to make, it could be hard to decide if he wants to remain either a pitcher or outfielder as both look promising for the Cardinals in the long run for this season and possibly seasons to come.