St. Louis Cardinals: Luke Voit making the most of his opportunity

St. Louis Cardinals Luke Voit is making the most out of his big league opportunity and looks back to what led to him there in the first place.

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Luke Voit is living the dream and doing so for his childhood team. Growing up and playing high school baseball in the St. Louis area, Luke Voit then had the opportunity to continue his baseball career in the state of Missouri, a decision that would eventually guide his path to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Luke Voit did it all for the Missouri State Bears in his college years in Springfield, Missouri, including leading the team to the 2012 NCAA tournament for the first time since their College World Series run in 2003. Even though he’s primarily a first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, Luke Voit played catcher among other infield positions for Missouri State.

Missouri State shares Hammons Field with the St. Louis Cardinals Double-A affiliate Springfield Cardinals, so when Luke Voit was selected in the 2012 MLB Draft by his hometown team, his path inversely led him back to Springfield, Missouri.

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Fast-forward to 2016, and Luke Voit is once again the big man on campus in Springfield, this time with the Springfield Cardinals, where he won the home run derby at the Texas League All-Star game and the league batting title.

There’s even a bobble-head celebrating the accomplishment that I have in my collection. Honestly, Luke Voit is my favorite player in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, so that’s no surprise.

He’s continued that trend with the St. Louis Cardinals Triple-A affiliate in Memphis, earning an All-Star appearance and several call-ups to the big leagues.

Even though his time in MLB has been sporadic, he’s making the most out of each opportunity.

I even feel that Luke Voit is the first basemen of the future for the St. Louis Cardinals. If that’s the case, then why was he demoted back to Springfield? Are the St. Louis Cardinals disappointed with his performance in Memphis? Quite to the contrary, it seems.

For those of you Luke Voit ambassadors such as myself, there’s no need to panic. With Jose Martinez heading home to Venezuela for the birth of his baby girl, Luke Voit is going to start at first base for the big league Birds in his absence.

He was given the option to play in Springfield since that location is close to his weekend destination of St. Louis than Memphis.

During his trip back to Springfield, he caught up with 417-sports.com and Jim Connel, reflecting on the past, while looking ahead to bigger and better things.

"“I came up in my first at-bat and got a nice ovation. To hear that after not being here for a couple of years, it was pretty awesome. It’s a great place to hit and the guys have been really cool to me. So it’s been a lot of fun.”"

Even though Luke Voit enjoyed his week back home, reminiscing a bit on his glory days, he is looking ahead to the future, eyeing a permanent stay in with the St. Louis Cardinals.

"“Whatever I’ve gotta do, I’m just trying to stay up there. The big leagues are a lot better.”"

I concur, Mr. Voit. The big leagues are a lot better with you playing in it, and hopefully, the St. Louis Cardinals organization figures that out sooner than later.

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Even though Luke Voit transitions back and forth from Memphis to St. Louis, expect him to make the most out of this weekend’s opportunity with the St. Louis Cardinals and not look back.