2 St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training aberrations and 2 players who were legit

Many fans of the St. Louis Cardinals and around baseball have learned over the years not to trust Spring Training statistics. Paul DeJong went ballistic in Spring Training last season and ended up hitting a pathetic .157. Nevertheless, the temptation to feel excited about a player performing well and feel dejected about someone doing poorly is often too much to overcome. Fans are overjoyed that baseball is back, and deep analyses of small sample sizes reign supreme.

In 2023, the Cardinals contained more unknowns coming out of Spring Training than any other team because of the number of players who participated in the World Baseball Classic. Many players had abbreviated springs, only receiving the opportunity to participate in a few games and not having the ability to consult with team coaches. Some players made no secret of the theory that the World Baseball Classic threw off their preparation for the season and hurt their performance early on.

Despite many players' absences, there was plenty of information that fans took away from Spring Training this season. That information, of course, hasn't carried over to the regular season for many players. While some Cardinals' performances in Spring Training proved prescient for better or worse, several other players didn't translate their strong production to the games that counted once the calendar flipped to April.

Two of these players have so far proven their performance in Spring Training to be a fluke, and two of them have shown themselves to be the real deal.