Cardinals' growing stash of left-handed hitters gives them a jumpstart in retool

For all of the ways the St. Louis Cardinals seem to have been behind the times in recent years, there's one strategy they've clearly implemented that continues to provide hope for the future.

Their collection of left-handed bats.

I'm not ready to chalk this up as some huge with for the organization, as at this moment in time, the best argument you can make for one of those bats is a nice complimentary piece at best, but it's the process here that is worth highlighting. It is encouraging to see the Cardinals target a profile of player that leads to success long-term, and it provides hope that things could continue to get better for their young position player core.

Practically speaking, left-handed bats have the platoon advantage over 70% of the pitchers in today's game. And looking at the big picture, lefties fair much better in postseason baseball than right-handed bats do. The numbers show that left-handed bats actually perform slightly better in the postseason compared to the regular season, while right-handed bats tend to regress by almost .100 OPS.

So let's think about the Cardinals' young core of position players for a moment. Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Ivan Herrera, and Thomas Saggese are obviously right-handed bats, but as for the rest? You've got a plethora of left-handed bats in Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Victor Scott II on the Major League roster. More are coming through the ranks, including JJ Wetherholt, Chase Davis, Jimmy Crooks III, and a switch hitter in Leonardo Bernal.

During one of the Cardinals' hottest stretches in the 2024 season, it's no mistake that it correlated directly with Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar, and Brendan Donovan all heating up. Even with Willson Contreras out of the lineup, the Cardinals were one of the best offenses in baseball, and that's because of their left-handed bats.

The development of the Cardinals' left-handed bats will play a massive role in how quickly they can turn things around

It's one thing to have left-handed bats, but it's a whole other thing to have the right left-handed bats.

Batting left-handed doesn't make someone a great hitter. We all know that. So why am I pointing at the Cardinals' left-handed bats, who contributed to a massively dissapointing offense in 2024, as reasons why the future could be bright for St. Louis?

Take Lars Nootbaar for example. His career 116 wRC+ is 68th among all active players, tied with names like Xander Bogaerts and Luis Robert Jr. while ranking higher than Christian Walker, Marcus Semien, and Adolis Garica. His under-the-hood metrics all scream even more success is possible for him at the plate. That's a left-handed bat the Cardinals should be betting on, although we all know health will matter big time for his future success.

Or take a look at someone like Nolan Gorman. Even with a terrible 2024 season, he ranks 42nd among active players in career ISO (.213) and he's top 100 in slugging percentage. Going into the 2024 season, Gorman ranked in the top 100 in career wRC+ among active players and had just posted a 118 wRC+ campaign with 27 home runs in just 119 games. While the 24-year-old could never reach those heights again, St. Louis is right to bet on that kind of power finding its way again.

Oh and Brendan Donovan? He casually ranks top 20 in the game in on-base percentage for his career, and he's actually 54th in baseball in career wRC+ (119), tied with names like Marcell Ozuna and Bo Bichette while ranking above Nolan Arenado, Ketel Marte, and Steven Kwan.

The point? The Cardinals have a collection of left-handed bats that have real upside in today's game. Will any of them be stars? Maybe not, and yes at some point the Cardinals will need stars to make this all work, but this method of talent accumulation bodes well for the Cardinals long-term.

I didn't even touch on the promise that Alec Burleson showed this past year or how JJ Wetherholt has the highest upside of any of those bats. Again, it doesn't mean things will go well for St. Louis, but I'm encouraged that they've consistently added intriguing left-handed bats to their organization over the past few years.

We have plenty of things to criticize the Cardinals for, and rightfully so, but their commitment to collecting intriguing left-handed bats is something I can get behind.