St. Louis Cardinals 2018 Season Preview
By David Hill
St. Louis Cardinals additions and subtractions
Key additions: Marcell Ozuna, Luke Gregerson, Miles Mikolas, Dominic Leone, Bud Norris
Newcomer to watch: Marcell Ozuna. Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals leader in homers was Paul DeJong, who hit 25 homers in his 108 games. While they had five players that hit 20 or more homers, the Cardinal lacked that true power threat in the lineup.
Enter Marcell Ozuna. Despite being overshadowed by Giancarlo Stanton in Miami, he had developed into a star player himself. Ozuna has made the last two All Star Games, and won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger last year. In 2017, Ozuna had a breakout season, posting a .312/.376/.548 batting line with a career best 37 homers and 30 doubles.
Slated to be the new left fielder in St. Louis, Ozuna provides an all around threat in left. He took to the position well last season, leading the league in range factor and saving 11 runs above average. With Tommy Pham now in center, and Dexter Fowler in right, the Cardinals outfield, and lineup, should be greatly improved.
Biggest losses: Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, Aledmys Diaz, Seung-Hwan Oh, Zack Duke, Juan Nicasio
Biggest loss: Aledmys Diaz. At this time last year, Diaz appeared to be the future for the Cardinals at short. Instead, he lost his job, was sent to the minors, and traded to Toronto.
Back in 2016, Diaz was an emerging star. He produced a solid .300/.369/.510 batting line, hitting 17 homers and 28 doubles as he made the All Star Game. However, last year, he slumped to a .259/.290/.392 batting line, hitting just seven homers and 17 doubles before losing his job to Paul DeJong.
In a lot of ways, DeJong is in a similar position as Diaz was last year. He emerged as a rookie, forcing his way into the lineup and giving the Cardinals a boost offensively. However, DeJong does not have the same sort of contact skills that Diaz possesses, striking out 124 times with just 21 walks in 443 plate appearances.
Paul DeJong may well build off of his performance last year, becoming the St. Louis Cardinals shortstop of the future. However, keeping Aledmys Diaz around as an insurance policy would not have hurt.