St. Louis Cardinals: Big bats impact and Cards need one

The St. Louis Cardinals picked up Ozuna who was supposed to be their big bat. Injury limited this. Big bats exist to impact more than their at-bats and the Cards need a real one in 2019.

The St. Louis Cardinals need a big bat. This big bat needs to be an authentic number-three or number-four batter. These impact bats affect the outcome of the game in more ways than at the plate.

How so? If we look back at the St. Louis Cardinals of past years, we see that batters such as Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday affected the game both with their bat and with the fear of their bat. This is the real threat of an impact bat.

Let me restate this directly: an impact bat brings more to a team via their threat than simply via their bat. This is what Marcell Ozuna failed to bring to the 2018 St. Louis Cardinals.

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The above statement isn’t meant to be a stab against Ozuna as we know now that he was limited by a shoulder injury the entire season. Had he appeared in St. Louis with the prowess he showed in 2017, Ozuna would have carried with him the threat of an ideal impact bat.

This aspect of an impact bat is on display in the Championship Series in the World Series hunt currently. Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich has been walked to keep his bat out of contention. J.D. Martinez has impacted the Boston lineup by assisting those batters around him to receive better pitches. And so on.

So, looking toward 2019, the St. Louis Cardinals need to find an impact bat. This could come in the way of a healthy Ozuna, from someone outside the organization (think Bryce Harper or Nolan Arenado), or from someone rising up from the minors (think Lane Thomas).

Knowing the need for an impact bat, it makes plenty of sense why St. Louis Cardinals fans are chomping at the bit for someone like Harper. Let me say this, though, it would be best for the Cardinals to find someone who would carry the fear factor as well as Pujols and Holliday before them.

Thanks for reading and let’s hope the St. Louis Cardinals find the solution to what was somewhat absent in 2018.