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Randal Grichuk the Future of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Outfield?

By Josh Sippie

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The St. Louis Cardinals are known for their minor league system and having a seemingly endless supply of young talented players who can come up and make an immediate impact at the Major League level. One of the latest of that supply is Randal Grichuk.

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Randal Grichuk is only 23 years old and he’s waiting on the brink of breaking into the Cardinals starting outfield. Currently, the Cardinals have Matt Holliday, Jon Jay and Jason Heyward patrolling the big green expanse. One could easily make the argument that Randal Grichuk should be starting over either Heyward or Jay (if he can learn center field), but such is not the case.

Statistically, Grichuk has the third best slugging percentage on the team, behind just Jhonny Peralta and Matt Carpenter. His OPS is the fifth highest on the team and his offensive wins above replacement is fifth on the team as well at 0.5. That 0.5 is far above Jon Jay’s -0.2 and Heyward’s 0.3.

Should he be starting? Probably.

But he isn’t so we must look to the future, which looks completely at Randal Grichuk’s disposal.  Matt Holliday is an elder statesman at 35 years old and Jon Jay, as the most ineffective of the three outfielders, is 30 as well. Jason Heyward isn’t catching on like the Cardinals thought and he’s only signed through the end of the season.

Aside from that, the Cardinals have Stephen Piscotty in Triple-A waiting to come up and that’s essentially it. 

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In steps Randal Grichuk. 101 Sports sees Grichuk as the new Allen Craig because he’s a reserve waiting to crack the starting lineup, but Randal Grichuk has far less in his path. Craig played the same position: corner outfield. However he also played first base. As such, he had to contend with Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman. Randal Grichuk has Matt Holliday and Jason Heyward. Holliday isn’t going to play forever and Heyward is fairly ineffective.

Randal Grichuk has a wonderful skill set. He hits for average and power and he’s a better outfielder than Craig was. For that reason, it won’t be as hard to get him into the starting lineup in the present. The problem is that the Cardinals spent money on Heyward so they don’t want to just give up on him. And Matt Holliday is a St. Louis icon and arguably the most potent hitter on the team, so he’s not going anywhere.

The point is, in a few years when Holliday is gone and Heyward has moved on and Jon Jay has faded, Randal Grichuk will be a permanent fixture in that Cardinals outfield.

Next: Are the Cardinals better off without Matt Adams?

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