Luke Voit needs to be the first baseman of the future for the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s hard to top a hometown hero winning the big game for his lifelong favorite team. Insert David Freese, October of 2011 for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Born and raised just outside of downtown St. Louis, the local boy delivered arguably the most clutch performance in World Series history — no doubt impressing even Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson.
Even though Freese no longer dons the Birds on the Bat, he’ll never have to buy another drink in Arch City ever again. Luke Voit hopes to follow in the footsteps of David Frees, filling those empty shoes of a hometown kid on the squad.
Ironically, Voit and Freese attended the same high school — Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Missouri. Is this destiny? St. Louis Cardinals fans are hoping so.
Last season, Voit displayed flashes of greatness and tremendous power — slashing .246/.306/430 with four home runs and 28 RBI in only 114 MLB at-bats. His numbers in Triple-A Memphis were flat-out phenomenal — .327/.407/.565 with 13 long bombs, 23 doubles, and 50 RBI in just 269 at-bats. Impressive.
He’s also transformed into an impressive first baseman, after playing catcher at the collegiate level with the Missouri State Bears — paving the way for the likes of Jake Burger and company.
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His previous minor league season before getting promoted to Memphis, Luke Voit won the home run derby in the Texas League Double-A All-Star game, at Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri — where (ironically) the Bears also play their home games.
Fast forward to the present day and age, Voit continues his trend of stellar play in Spring training. His RBI triple sparked a comeback attempt against the Mets, which came up just one run short. Voit is second on the team in RBI this Spring and is lobbying for the final roster spot for the St. Louis Cardinals —according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Even with Jose Martinez playing well and lobbying for that first base position, Voit may be the long-term answer for the birds at the corner spot. Honestly, trading Matt Carpenter may be the only option for this to come to fruition for Voit, but it may be the way to go. The Cardinals will regret it if they overlook Voit, who’s due to break out, given a legitimate shot.
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The St. Louis Cardinals need to give Luke Voit an opportunity, and with enough plate appearances, he will emerge into an MLB star. It’s only a matter of time.