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St. Louis Cardinals: Four players likely to be traded in 2020

By Matt Graves

JUPITER, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 22: Dakota Hudson #43 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the New York Mets in the third inning of a Grapefruit League spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium on February 22, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
JUPITER, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 22: Dakota Hudson #43 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the New York Mets in the third inning of a Grapefruit League spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium on February 22, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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JUPITER, FLORIDA – MARCH 12: Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats during the spring training game against the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 12, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
JUPITER, FLORIDA – MARCH 12: Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats during the spring training game against the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 12, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Harrison Bader

2020 is the year that could make or break Harrison Bader. We have all seen Bader at his best and at his worst in the three seasons with the Cardinals. For Bader, it really all comes down to one aspect of his game: hitting against offspeed and breaking pitches.

Against fastballs, Bader had a good .297 xBA and an elite .611 xSLG in 2019. However, against breaking balls, those numbers fall to .148 and .225, even worse, against offspeed pitches, the numbers fall even more to .133 and .172. Once pitchers realized Bader can’t hit offspeed, the pitches Bader saw gradually leaned towards his weakness.

After seeing 59.2% fastballs in his rookie season, that number fell to 58.3% in 2018 and then 52% in 2019. The league is learning how to attack him, and if he doesn’t adjust, it will be hard for him to improve upon his .205 batting average in 2019.

Entering his fourth season, Bader’s defense is consistently Gold-Glove-caliber, but with the talent the Cards have in the outfield, the team can’t afford to have an outfielder who is 19% below average offensively playing regularly.

The Cards have given Bader chances to reset his swing at AAA, it just seems that in year four, it’s make or break time.

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