St. Louis Cardinals: What to expect from these three Cardinals

With the regular season just around the corner, there are more questions coming up about current St. Louis Cardinals and how they will do this year.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been out of the post season now for two consecutive seasons and both the team and fans are ready to get back and make another run for a World Series championship. The Cardinals made some moves this offseason in which they believe are the missing pieces to their team as well as looking at returning players to step up and deliver in a bigger role.

With some current struggles and unanswered questions on some of the players on the team, here is what we should be expecting out of a few of them.

Marcell Ozuna

Last season with the Miami Marlins, Ozuna batted .312, hitting 37 home runs, with 124 runs batted in and slugging percentage of .548, all while hitting behind the powerful Giancarlo Stanton. Right now though, Ozuna is struggling to hit the ball as he is hitting under .200.

Fans should not worry though.

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In the past, the Cardinals have brought in Jason Heyward and recent signee Dexter Fowler and they both have been known to have a stellar offense but have started off their first month with the team slow. We should expect the very same with Ozuna.

Even though the Cardinals traded for Ozuna to be the power bat they need, it will be fine if he starts off slow. He will be the player he was in seasons prior and bring at least a .280 average while hitting around 30 home runs and driving in 100 runs.

Miles Mikolas

Mikolas hasn’t played in the major leagues since he was with the Texas Rangers in 2014. Through the 2015-2017 season though, he played with the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo, Japan.

During his time in Japan, he posted a 31-13 record, having an earned run average of 2.18 and striking out 378 batters.

Through his first couple of starts in spring training this year, Mikolas looked like a mess and was unsure if he would be dominant. In his most recent start though on March 9th against the Houston Astros, he went four innings, allowing only four hits, two walks and no runs.

I’m not saying that he will turn around and become a lights out pitcher, but we all know he is capable of being one. Expect Mikolas to be a number five starter and to have rough outings, but also be aware he will come out and take over games at times.

I would expect Mikolas to have about 12 wins this season while have an ERA around 3.40.

Alex Reyes

When Reyes made his major league debut in 2016, fans were excited to see him be a valuable piece to the puzzle for the 2017 season. Sadly, a year ago he had to get Tommy John surgery and the what could have been season was no longer there.

Reyes may start out the season in Memphis, but by May we should expect Reyes to be in St. Louis pitching out of the bullpen.

The only question with Reyes will be what will his role be out of the bullpen. Closer? Setup Man? Middle Reliever? I would expect all of those options for Reyes

When he first starts off the season, expect him to come in the middle innings and shut teams down with his electric fast ball. Then as the season goes on start seeing him pitch in the later innings. Reyes has what it takes to be a closer right now and with that door open, anything is possible.

By the end of the season, expect an ERA around 3.00 while having a few saves under his belt.

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These three players could hold a big part in the season, even if they get off to a rough start. These are players though that have proven themselves in the big leagues and will be ready to shine on the big stage in St. Louis.