3 St. Louis Cardinals surprise second-half studs

Cardinals second-half stud No. 2: Lars Nootbaar

After a solid 2021 debut, in which he hit .239/.317/.422 in 124 plate appearances, good for a 103 OPS+, Nootbaar was ticketed for a backup outfielder role behind Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, and Dylan Carlson.  And the lefty-hitting Nootbaar seemed like a good fit for such a role.  With Carlson a switch-hitter who can handle center field, Nootbaar could fill in at one of the corner spots to give the right-handed O’Neill or Bader a day off.

During the season’s first three months, even that limited role seemed too much for Nootbaar.  Over 69 at-bats, he hit .145 with two home runs, seven RBI, and nine runs scored.  He also struck out 24 times while walking just seven times.  It was a dismal start to his sophomore campaign.

Then July rolled around, and Nootbaar started rolling, too.  In the last two months, over 136 AB, he has smacked eight homers, driven in 25 runs, and scored 32 times while batting .294.  And with Bader dealt to the New York Yankees, Nootbaar’s playing time surged in August, during which he served as the primary leadoff hitter against right-handed starters.

Will Nootbaar turn into a pumpkin before his pumpkin-spice snack bar makes it to market?  (That product is pure speculation on the part of the author, though the timing would be great.)  The Cardinals certainly hope not.  He has September to continue to establish himself and help the Redbirds surge into the postseason.  And you never know who’s going to play the hero in the playoffs.

Cardinals second-half stud No. 3: Corey Dickerson

What Cardinals player has the most consecutive at-bats with a hit?  Nope, not Fernando Tatis Sr, Felix Jose, or Curt Flood, at least not any more.  Each of those three players went eight straight ABs with a hit – Flood doing so twice – but the new St. Louis player atop that leaderboard is Dickerson, who surpassed all of them by two hits, becoming only the 13th player in MLB history to record a hit in 10 straight at-bats.

Dickerson was expected to bring a veteran presence, an experienced bat to join Nootbaar in the outfield against righty starters or take on a bigger role in the even Nootbaar scuffled in his second season in the bigs.  Instead, Dickerson fell flat in the first few couple of months of his one-year, $5M contract, batting .180 with zero long balls, nine RBI, and nine runs scored through the end of May.

His bat showed signs of line in an extremely small nine-AB sample in June, when he recorded three hits – two of which were solo home runs.  Since getting more frequent playing time the last couple of months, Dickerson has hit a combined .370 with five home runs, 15 RBI, and 14 runs scored in an even 100 at-bats in the June-August period.

Virtually all of his damage has been done against right-handers, which was another part of the plan when bringing him into the Cardinals clubhouse.  He and Pujols were supposed to complement each other in the lineup depending on the handedness of the pitcher on the mound at any given time.  It took a while for both of them to find their groove, but now things are clicking like was hoped.

The future

Will these torrid streaks continue for these three hitters?  Who knows?  Player run hot and cold for no apparent reason sometimes, at least from the outside.  It certainly seems like something has been fixed, allowing them and the team to prosper, just like the front office drew it up before the season began.