Happy February, everyone. This month will bring us the Super Bowl, an Albert Pujols extension, and the start of Spring Training. I'm thinking it's going to be a good one.
First of all, however, there's a blizzard getting ready to pound the Midwest, and I saw some interesting tweets on the subject yesterday. The last two great winter storms for St. Louis (1982 and 2006) coincided with World Series champs. So, while you're out there buying your bread and milk, salting your driveway, turning the thermostat to 90, and busting your &@% on the sidewalk, remember the good things to come about eight months from now. Champions. World Series... champions.
The Cardinals have seen a couple breakout players bust onto the scene in the past few years. Last year, it was Jaime Garcia, who ended up placing third in Rookie of the Year voting with a 2.8 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Jon Jay, who finished the season with a 1.1 WAR. The year before it was Mitch Boggs and Jason Motte, who both finished the year with decent numbers on the mound and are now thought to be steady contributors to the bullpen.
Who's going to be the breakout candidate, defined roughly as someone who either comes out of nowhere or greatly exceeds expectations, this year? My first candidate is Daniel Descalso, second baseman. I've been high on Descalso since I can remember, probably because he's been the only middle infielder in our system worth mentioning in the past five years. That is changing now, but Dan is still on the radar with the current depth on the active roster up the middle. I like him because he has the patience to take a walk, something that Ryan Theriot has struggled with the past few years. Dan's chance will come in Spring Training, but I suspect he'll make a contribution even if he doesn't make the initial squad.
My second candidate is right-handed reliever Eduardo Sanchez, another unlikely player to make the 25-man. However, Sanchez has filthy stuff, resulting in a 10.33 K/9 in AAA last year and an 86% strand rate. The biggest question mark, as with all high-K relievers, is his ability to mitigate walks allowed. He gave up 4.0 BB/9 last year in AAA, but it wasn't quite as high in AA and A+ ball. The Cardinals won't be able to contain him in AAA for long, and I predict that he'll find his way on the team someway, somehow.
Original Story:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rockin...
First of all, however, there's a blizzard getting ready to pound the Midwest, and I saw some interesting tweets on the subject yesterday. The last two great winter storms for St. Louis (1982 and 2006) coincided with World Series champs. So, while you're out there buying your bread and milk, salting your driveway, turning the thermostat to 90, and busting your &@% on the sidewalk, remember the good things to come about eight months from now. Champions. World Series... champions.
The Cardinals have seen a couple breakout players bust onto the scene in the past few years. Last year, it was Jaime Garcia, who ended up placing third in Rookie of the Year voting with a 2.8 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Jon Jay, who finished the season with a 1.1 WAR. The year before it was Mitch Boggs and Jason Motte, who both finished the year with decent numbers on the mound and are now thought to be steady contributors to the bullpen.
Who's going to be the breakout candidate, defined roughly as someone who either comes out of nowhere or greatly exceeds expectations, this year? My first candidate is Daniel Descalso, second baseman. I've been high on Descalso since I can remember, probably because he's been the only middle infielder in our system worth mentioning in the past five years. That is changing now, but Dan is still on the radar with the current depth on the active roster up the middle. I like him because he has the patience to take a walk, something that Ryan Theriot has struggled with the past few years. Dan's chance will come in Spring Training, but I suspect he'll make a contribution even if he doesn't make the initial squad.
My second candidate is right-handed reliever Eduardo Sanchez, another unlikely player to make the 25-man. However, Sanchez has filthy stuff, resulting in a 10.33 K/9 in AAA last year and an 86% strand rate. The biggest question mark, as with all high-K relievers, is his ability to mitigate walks allowed. He gave up 4.0 BB/9 last year in AAA, but it wasn't quite as high in AA and A+ ball. The Cardinals won't be able to contain him in AAA for long, and I predict that he'll find his way on the team someway, somehow.
Original Story:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rockin...
