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4 former Cardinals who are putting on a show in Spring Training
These four players who left the St. Louis Cardinals during or after the 2023 season are starting the year off hot in hopes of schooling their former team.
As Spring Training enters its final stretch, players on the fringes of a roster are giving it all they've got to attempt to persuade their managers that they belong on the roster. Many former St. Louis Cardinals who dot the landscape of Florida and Arizona during Spring Training are hoping to prove their previous employer to be fools for letting them leave, and several of those who have left the redbird nest have performed beyond expectations to this point.
These four players who were Cardinals in 2023 are providing strong numbers in Spring Training.
Juan Yepez
When Albert Pujols sees something in a player, it might be best to keep that guy around. The Cardinals didn't do that with Juan Yepez, who was squeezed off of the roster in 2023 because of his defensive limitations. The Washington Nationals scooped him up in the offseason, and he has torn the cover off the ball in spring, with 11 hits in 29 at-bats. Amazingly, he has only struck out once.
Yepez wasn't projected to begin the year in the major leagues, but he might force the Nationals to think twice. Complicating matters are Yepez's fielding concerns, and with the presence of Joey Meneses as the Nationals' primary designated hitter, Yepez might be on the outside looking in yet again.
Yepez appeared to be Pujols' most enthusiastic pupil in 2022, and Pujols praised Yepez, expecting him to do big things in the future. That future might be imminent given his spring performance; unfortunately, it won't be while Yepez wears the birds on the bat.
Paul DeJong
Woe to those Cardinals fans who believed in Paul DeJong after he started off multiple seasons coming out like gangbusters, only to collapse spectacularly after the first month or so of the season. DeJong appears to be up to his old spring tricks with the Chicago White Sox, as he's hit .295 with three home runs for the South Siders across 50 plate appearances.
After fizzling out with the Toronto Blue Jays and the San Francisco Giants following his departure from St. Louis via trade, DeJong will look to resuscitate his career with the White Sox and will likely start the season as the top shortstop option for the team, although top prospect Colson Montgomery is knocking on the door to the major leagues.
Now 30, DeJong is unlikely to find another gear, and it would be a major surprise if his hot hitting carries over deep into the regular season. Maybe the White Sox have unlocked something there, but DeJong has a history of hot starts like these, so a large heap of skepticism is warranted.
Jack Flaherty
Jack Flaherty was a big part of the Cardinals' hopes in 2023, but he was plagued by ineffectiveness before a trade to the Baltimore Orioles that netted the Cardinals Cesar Prieto, Zack Showalter and Drew Rom. Flaherty imploded with the Orioles, pitching his way out of their rotation for the postseason, and he wasn't retained after the offseason, leading the Detroit Tigers to snap him up in free agency.
Flaherty is showing nasty stuff this spring, with 18 strikeouts and only four walks in 13.2 innings, in which he has allowed five runs. He is likely to slot into the Tigers' rotation as he looks for a bounce-back year. Injuries have derailed the career of the former highly touted prospect, who never lived up to his ace projections outside of the second half of 2019, but if Flaherty is finally fully healthy, the Tigers might have hit the jackpot on a cheap one-year, $14 million contract.
Many Cardinals fans never fully embraced Flaherty because of his inconsistency and frequent injuries, along with his decisions to speak out on issues regarding social justice, and some of his comments after the trade fanned the flames. It will be interesting to see the response to Flaherty if he pitches in Busch Stadium anytime soon, especially if he finds the success in Detroit that eluded him for most of his tenure in St. Louis.
Richie Palacios
Richie Palacios wrestled his way into a starting outfield role in St. Louis late in the 2023 season, long after all hopes of a playoff appearance had faded. He more than held his own, hitting .258 with an OPS of .823. But the Cardinals, who deemed their outfield too crowded before Spring Training, sent Palacios to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Andrew Kittredge.
Palacios has stood out in Spring Training for the Rays, hitting .311 with three home runs in 45 at-bats. His average exit velocity of 92.7 mph also ranks near the top of the team. He looks to be in a good spot to make the Rays' active roster and run with a job in the outfield, and he has also been working out at second base.
The Cardinals could come to lament the Palacios move, but considering that they received Palacios from the Cleveland Guardians for nothing but cash, flipping him for an established reliever has to be considered a long-term win for the Cardinals. It likely still won't ease the sting on Cardinals fans if Palacios comes anywhere near Randy Arozarena-level success, though.
The Cardinals have made several trades over the past few years that they certainly wish they could have back, and more success from these players will only intensify the pain. Here's hoping that if these four standouts transfer their spring performance to the regular season, the players the Cardinals received in these deals can flourish as well.
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