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3 unexpected presents from the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2021 season
The 2021 season wasn’t perfect for the St. Louis Cardinals, but each year there are surprises that come out of nowhere. What were the three best this year?
2021 is almost over and it was yet another year where St. Louis Cardinals fans were spoiled by a trip to the playoffs. As much as a Wild Card exit felt like a disappointment, the season could’ve gone a lot worse.
The team was buoyed by an elite defense and a strong September, but there wasn’t too much to be angry about overall. As with every season, there were plenty of surprises that ultimately played a part in making 2021 what it was.
The biggest surprise of the year had to have been the man playing third base, Nolan Arenado. While he didn’t exactly stack up to his own standards, having Arenado in St. Louis at all is a dream fans have had for a few years.
To stick with the holiday spirit, what were three other surprise presents from the 2021 season?
The rise of Genesis Cabrera
Genesis Cabrera was the most intriguing piece the Cardinals got in return for Tommy Pham back in 2018. While the 25-year-old lefty debuted in 2019, this was the first year that Cabrera carved out a consistent (and important) role with the big club.
After combining for just 32 appearances in 2019 and 2020, Cabrera pitched in 71 games with most of his outings occurring in the 7th inning. The control issues that Cabrera has dealt with for the entirety of his career were still evident, but his 3.73 ERA in 70.0 innings pitched is a lot to ask any reliever to handle.
Sure, Cabrera made fans ride the rollercoaster of emotions when he was on the mound, but in a year where the Cardinals suffered from a lot of injuries on the pitching side, he was solid. Mike Shildt deserves credit for going back to Cabrera after the occasional bad outing, but so does Cabrera for having a short memory.
Looking ahead to 2022, Cabrera, who was primarily a starter in the minors, may get looked at for that role, but he offers the Cardinals another solid arm to deploy.
Tyler O’Neill is finally here
After another rough season in 2020 in most offensive categories, a portion of the fanbase was ready to give up on the Cardinals’ left fielder. However, a deeper dive into his plate discipline numbers showed huge gains and the potential of a breakout on the horizon.
In 2021, Mike Shildt and the Cardinals gave O’Neill his first true opportunity (and likely his last) chance to start every day, and everyone’s expectations were blown out of the water.
After starting the season batting 5th behind shortstop Paul DeJong in the cleanup spot, O’Neill finished the season as the team’s everyday three-hole hitter. Sandwiched by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, O’Neill put up a fantastic 5.4 fWAR behind a career-high 145 wRC+ and 34 homers in just 138 games.
By all advanced metrics, O’Neill’s breakout wasn’t luck. He earned all of the success he had in 2021 through an insane 17.9% barrel rate. Sure, his 31% strikeout percentage could make it difficult to repeat his 2021, but even a slight float back to earth leaves O’Neill as an extremely valuable bat in the middle of the lineup.
Add O’Neill’s Gold Glove defense to his emerging offense and it is easy to see why O’Neill was the most valuable player on the Cardinals in 2021.
Paul Goldschmidt still has plenty in the tank
Since Paul Goldschmidt was traded to the Cardinals and signed on long-term, he has never been “bad,” but fans had yet to see a year that resembled any of his top-10 MVP years that he had in Arizona in the first half of his career.
In 2019, Goldschmidt and his .821 OPS and 117 wRC+ was solid but nowhere near his career 141 mark in that category. Then in 2020, the shortened season saw opposing teams walking Goldschmidt more than ever to avoid facing the only formidable bat in the team’s lineup. When Goldy did get pitched to, a barrage of singles rather than extra-base power was concerning, even if his 147 wRC+ at the end of the year was great.
In 2021, an unlucky start to the year left his slash line at .239/.305/.380 at the end of the second month of the season. Despite the team having success at that time, there was growing concern about the team’s first baseman despite a crazy-high hard-hit percentage.
Thankfully though, regression works both ways. From June 1 on, Paul Goldschmidt was on fire at the plate slashing .322/.395/.583, thriving in the second spot of the lineup. By the end of the year, the 33-year-old first baseman put together his best all-around year in St. Louis with a 138 wRC+, 31 homers, and 99 RBI. Like O’Neill, he tacked on a Gold Glove to his 2021 resume and finished just ahead of O’Neill in MVP voting at the 6th spot.
With three years left under contract in St. Louis, 2021 was a great sign for Goldschmidt, even if it ends up being the high-water mark of his time here.
Next. Early 2022 ZiPS projections are optimistic for St. Louis Cardinals. dark
Whether it was Cabrera, O’Neill, or Goldschmidt, there were plenty of things to be excited about from 2021 when it comes to St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Sure, it’s tough to think about right now in the middle of a lockout, but there are plenty of pieces on the roster to keep building around as we move into next season.