St. Louis Cardinals: What to make of two enigmatic outfielders

While this 2019 season is still in its early stages, the two biggest storylines that continue to define the St. Louis Cardinals are Marcell Ozuna and Dexter Fowler

While they have come into the season on generally different paths, both of these St. Louis Cardinals outfielders were met with much ire to start the season. The stories have some tangental similarities, but it’s all connected to one idea: underachievement due to underlying circumstances.

While this can be acceptable in many fields on occasion, it is far less forgivable when almost $29 million are being committed to the two to perform in 2019. Of course, there is a difference in their situations mainly because of two factors: the nature of the ailment and age.

First, in Dexter Fowler‘s case, it is really hard for me to honestly be able to have faith to maintain consistent play out of him because of the nature of his ailment. The difficulty that comes with overcoming mental illness is astronomical simply because of how persistent they are.

Something like depression can be just as fickle for a person as a hot streak can be, and we never know when it might come back if it does. Fowler’s line is encouraging, and it’s a sign he isn’t “done” yet, as many people may have believed.

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However, I cannot help but shake the feeling that the switch can be flipped again in an instant, and the struggles could continue right back along. While the hot streak is a very good sign for the St. Louis Cardinals to start the season, the team has to be very, very careful with how they handle Fowler. Harrison Bader will always be a good option in center because of his defense, and the Redbirds should utilize this to the fullest when maintaining Fowler.

With Marcell Ozuna, I have a different issue, and it lies in terms of transparency with his injury. Let us not forget that in early March, Ozuna had said it had been “at least three years since his right shoulder felt as strong” as it did then.

To me, this simply begs the question, “Where did this come from?” We don’t need Statcast or anything like that to tell us that it’s clear Ozuna’s velocity from the outfield is still way down, but those stats and Fangraphs ARM stat tells the same story, so what gives?

Obviously, the hitting is a sign that he is at least starting to feel better, but the shoulder still seems like a concern based on the condition of his throws, and this is where the age comes in as well. Because he is so young, we can essentially rule out this decline in shoulder strength as natural age progression, which leads us to one conclusion.

Just as it was preemptive to count Fowler and Ozuna out, it is also preemptive to say that they have made their renaissance and returned to a level similar to the one that prompted the St. Louis Cardinals to shell out the big bucks for these two in the first place. It is a big deal that they are playing so well, don’t get me wrong, but let’s hold off on proclaiming the return of Ozuna and Fowler for now.