St. Louis Cardinals: 2 who have rewarded team’s faith, 1 who hasn’t

Harrison Bader

Harrison Bader has taken an astronomical leap forward at the plate in 2021. He was always an elite defender in center field, but many fans were getting fed up with his lack of success at the plate. After all, players who can field but not hit a lick are a dime a dozen. But Bader has made a noticeable change in his approach at the dish this year.

In a FanGraphs article, Ben Clemens noted that Bader has swung at more pitches in the zone this year after being too passive at the plate in years prior. The results speak for themselves. Bader is slashing career highs in average, OBP and slugging with a line of .274/.341/.468.

Of course, Bader hasn’t lost his ability to play defense either. Fielding statistics show him to be almost exactly as effective as he was last year in center field. He also still possesses top-of-the-scale speed. If Bader can continue to refine his game, he could be a very dangerous player in all facets of the sport.

Even if he were still a liability at the plate, Bader would continue to have value in the field. Many fans seem to take defense for granted until a player who can’t field is thrown out there. Bader was valuable before his offensive breakout, but he is doubly so now.

The FanGraphs article linked above says Bader has made a real adjustment to his approach at the plate, and it appears this could be a turning point in his career if his improved aggressiveness holds. The article does mention Bader’s lack of barrels and sweet spot percentage in his batted balls, but the fact that Bader has managed to patch a major hole in his game has helped his outlook greatly.

The Cardinals could have given up on Bader and attempted to trade him, or they simply could have demoted him, but president of baseball operations John Mozeliak’s confidence in Bader and manager Mike Shildt’s determination to continue to put him in the lineup seem to have delivered results.