Buy or Sell: 2022 Projections for St. Louis Cardinals Lineup
By Josh Jacobs

CF Harrison Bader
2022 Projection: BA: .242, OBP: .321, SLG: .421, OPS: .742, R: 54, H: 93, 2B: 20, 3B: 2, HR: 15, RBI: 48, SB: 9, CS: 3, BB: 38, SO: 107
Verdict: Sell
Harrison Bader is the definition of a streaky hitter, and seems to be where some of the decline in production comes into play with this projection. After a pretty solid rookie campaign where he is .264 with 34 XBH, his following seasons went .205 and 27 XBH, .226 in the shortened 2020 season, and then .267 with 38 XBH even after only playing in 103 games.
I would expect Bader to find himself slashing about .255/.320/.460 with around 40 XBH, with the potential for those to rise if he can manage to play a near full season. Harrison is one of many Cardinals who seems to have found their identity over the last year, and I would expect him to be a solid contributor again.
SS Paul DeJong
2022 Projected: BA: .223, OBP: .304, SLG: .405, OPS: .709, R: 54, H: 88, 2B: 16, 3B: 1, HR: 18, RBI: 52, SB: 5, CS: 2, BB: 40, SO: 110
Verdict: Buy
After an abysmal 2021 campaign, the current Baseball Reference projection for Paul DeJong seems pretty on par.
Expect to see a very low average and on-base percentage from the Cardinal shortstop, and but he should still be able to put up some power numbers when he does make contact. If this is how he is trending early in the season though, do not be surprised to see Edmundo Sosa take over at shortstop, or even see Tommy Edman slide over and make way for Nolan Gorman at second base.