St. Louis Cardinals: Goodbye and good luck, Patrick Wisdom

So long, Patrick Wisdom. The St. Louis Cardinals community will miss you.

Few players have the character of Patrick Wisdom. The sheer out pour of excitement when he made his major league debut is evidence of that. The St. Louis Cardinals have traded him to Texas, and it seems Drew Robinson will have to start his Redbird tenure in a cloud of disappointment.

Time will pass, and fans will see the advantages of the trade. Robinson hits from the left side and plays many positions, whereas Wisdom is a righty with limited defensive versatility. But there is seldom a player like Patty Smarts.

For a brief, fleeting moment Wisdom wore the Birds on the Bat. It was a long time coming after 2017 brought him 31 homeruns, and 2018 saw no promotion.

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As it happens, that promotion did come. Fans got to see Wisdom play in 32 games. He hit .260 with four homers, but there is more to his Cardinal tenure than the numbers.

In 2012, the St. Louis Cardinals spent a Compensation Round A pick on Wisdom. After coming out and hitting .282 in his draft year, his numbers just kind of dropped off. His batting average sat in the low .200’s and he never hit more than 15 long balls in a season. But, he continued to work and he continued to climb the ranks.

All of a sudden, at age 25, Wisdom nailed 31 homers with a .243 batting average. The power was rearing its head. Still, he remained off of the Cardinals 40-man, and probably rightfully so.

In 2018, he continued to show improvements. The power took a dip, 15 homers in a touch over 100 games, but the average climbed in a big way. By the time Wisdom was calling Busch Stadium home, he was hitting .282.

If there was one moment that Wisdom would be remembered for, it came in a 17-4 loss to the Dodgers. On one swing of the bat in that game, Patty Smarts provided the entire St. Louis Cardinals offense with a grand slam.

Some of the credit to the improvements in his game come thanks to former Memphis, and current St. Louis Cardinals, hitting coach Mark Budaska who helped Wisdom fix mechanical flaws in his swing.

Overall, it was the mental persistence of Wisdom to find what worked for him. In the end, according to his words in the Memphis Daily News, it was his approach that needed to be tweaked just enough to find success. That type of positive thinking and hard work did wonders for Wisdom’s offensive game.

Whether it be due to his clubhouse reputation, or his history of working hard, the St. Louis Cardinals community became infatuated with Patty Smarts. And with good reason.

The movie Moneyball is right, it is hard not to be romantic about baseball. To see Wisdom go is sad, but baseball is a business. At the end of the day there was simply no room for Wisdom on the roster. He is blocked on the roster behind the likes of Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko.

This trade is good for Wisdom, who gets a chance to be a full time player. Just like Luke Voit did with the Yankees. It also give the St. Louis Cardinals a utility defender who hits left handed. Call it a win-win for Wisdom and the Redbirds.

St. Louis now says goodbye to Patrick Wisdom, who captured the heart of many. Without a doubt, he will always have a huge fanbase in the city of the franchise that groomed him. While I wish him well in Texas, I also am excited to see what Drew Robinson can do.