St. Louis Cardinals: Why so much hate for Matt Carpenter?

After scrolling through Twitter the last couple of weeks, I felt the need to stand up for St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter.

Fans are quick to forget how good their favorite teams players are in the off-season, especially when they make mock trades of their own. It is the perfect example of the grass is always greener on the other side.

This is precisely how my Twitter feed has been with St. Louis Cardinals fans and what to do with Matt Carpenter. Do not get me wrong on this, I think it is perfectly fine to make mock trades, no matter who is in them, but to downplay the success of someone like Matt Carpenter is just not right to me.

Matt Carpenter has been a top-tier hitter in all of baseball for the past couple of seasons. Since 2015, my Predator Baseball Stats value Matt Carpenter as the 19th best hitter in all of baseball out of every player that played in that time frame.

Season Stats:

Year       Rank        PRI        PWAA        OPS        HR        RBI          R           H

2015      18th      15.52       2.33          .871        28         84         101     156

2016      28th      13.21       1.98          .885        21         68          81       128

2017      56th        8.58        1.29          .835        23         69          91       120

Even I do not think I give him enough respect for how good of a hitter he has been. Putting those numbers in even more perspective, he is ranked higher than Manny Machado (23rd), Buster Posey (33rd), and Eric Hosmer (34th). By the way, Giancarlo Stanton is ranked, according to my stats, as the 15th best hitter and Miguel Cabrera as the 17th best hitter.

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Now, I completely understand the argument Matt Carpenter has been trending down the past couple of years. Coming into his 32 year old season we have probably seen the best of Matt Carpenter, but that does not mean he is not of great importance to the Cardinals.

Would it be smart to go sign a younger player like Eric Hosmer or Manny Machado to a long term contract as they enter their prime, yes. However, Matt Carpenter has been a stud for the Cardinals since 2012 and I think if he becomes a utility man all over the diamond, he is worth it.

Matt Carpenter is everything the Cardinals strive to be in not just play on the field, but also off the field. Being a great baseball player is great, but using the platform to be a role model is even better. Matt Carpenter does just that, just go check his twitter or instagram account for all of the events he is a part of in his community. Here is one example:

In the off-season, it can be easy to forget that baseball players are more than numbers and a monetary value. They are people, too. In order to have a winning team, chemistry and the right personnel is incredibly important.

Next: Piscotty trade bigger than baseball

Matt Carpenter checks off all the marks of what being a good baseball player is supposed to be. As a Cardinals fan, it is great to see what he does on the field, but even better to know  how much of an impact he is off the field.