Which St. Louis Cardinals' players have increased or decreased their trade value?

The Overperformers: Part 2

Jordan Hicks

Relievers are volatile in general, but Jordan Hicks has taken volatility to a new level in his career. Once a flame-throwing closer, Hicks dabbled in the rotation back in 2022 but was hampered by injuries. This year, he was able to focus on pitching out of the bullpen and refining his fiery stuff. The most useful stats for Hicks would be his career 9.6 Ks/9 innings, 1.307 WHIP, and a .202 batting average against. He limits hard hits and induces a high amount of ground balls compared to the MLB average.

On the season, Hicks's numbers are much stronger. He currently is striking out batters at a ridiculous clip of 13.6 per nine innings. His early season numbers inflate his WHIP and opponent's batting average, but he has been very strong in his last few appearances. He pitched a total of 22 innings between the months of May and June while keeping batters to a .154 batting average and an OPS below .550. Hicks struck out 32 of the 91 batters he faced during that span (35.2%).

While Jordan Hicks may have had a bumpy start to the season, he has settled in nicely as the team's closer (and possible trade chip). Let's ignore his most recent blunder in the field...

Dylan Carlson

Once a top-ranked prospect in the organization, Dylan Carlson has fallen out of admiration with many fans. Carlson was a toolsy prospect who could play center field. For his career, he has a slash line of .247/.324/.405 for an OPS+ of 103. He has accumulated innings at every spot in the outfield for his career, though most of his innings have come from right and center field.

Carlson's season numbers are similar to his career numbers (.248/.328/.389, OPS+ of 96) albeit with a bit of a power dropoff. This is not where he has shown improvement. Rather, Carlson's improvement has been on the defensive side, particularly in center. He has 2 out above average thus far in center compared to -1 in right field. Actually, his center field numbers on the defensive side have always been positive while his corner numbers have been negative or neutral.

Another positive aspect of Carlson's game has been his barrel percentage. In his career, he barrels balls at a 6.4% rate; on the season, he has barreled balls at an 8.2%, 1.5% above league average. While his slugging is at .389, his expected slugging is .416, showing that there is room for growth. A center fielder who can hit for league average or slightly better is a commodity that many teams may want, particularly one who is only 24 and has three years of control left.