CARDINALS THIRD BASE

Sounds like the Cardinals infield will look something like this... Yadier Molina will catch. First base will be Matt Carpenter. Second base will be manned by Kolten Wong. Shortstop will be the domain of Aledmys Diaz. That means both Jedd Gyorko and Jhonny Peralta will battle for work at this base. Yes, a possible position battle is heating up, one that GM John Mozeliak spoke to recently.

Peralta will be 35 in May, and is coming off a half season of work that included a pace that would have netted him a .260-16-58-72 line. Pretty much standard Peralta stuff. Boring, stable, but again, ultimately boring. The question is, can he hold off the surging Gyorko for full-time work? Seems unlikely. Jedd hit 30 homers last season in just 400 at-bats, but he was a very limited player. He hit just .243. He got on base at a poor .306 clip. For his career it should also be noted that Gyorko has hit .231 with a .283 OBP against righties, and that just don’t do even if you pound the ball deep a lot (the marks were no better last year at .241 and .299).

Of course, Wong could fail opening up time at second base. Carpenter also move to second to open up time for Matt Adams at first. Heck, Carpenter could move back to third base if need be. Lots of moving parts, lots of things to be paying attention to through spring training with this infield as this is one team that likes to mix & match an awful lot.

THIS AND THAT

Josh Bell of the Pirates was a top-50 prospect heading into last season according to Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. He hit 14 homers with a .850 OPS in 114 games at Triple-A before posting a solid .273/.368/.406 line in 45 games with the Pirates. Sounds like he’s one of those – I’m in the best shape of my life – guys as he’s lost almost 20 lbs since the start of last season. Sounds like it’s less about weights and more about yoga. He’s a hell of a young hitter with a potentially bright future.

Marco Gonzales is said to be recovering well from Tommy John surgery. He should be able to pitch early in the year with an eye toward helping out the Cardinals at some point in the second half of the season, be it in the rotation or out of the bullpen.

Jason Heyward hit .230 with seven homers in his first season with the Cubs after signing that 8-year, $184 million deal. He was a miserable failure. He knows it, and he’s working diligently to recapture the swing that he used to possess. “He’s trying to mirror the swing he had then,” back in 2012 when he hit  27 homers according to hitting coach John Mallee. “Right now the path is not the same it was then. It’s not making a change. It’s getting him back to who he was... Bat angle, launch angle, sequence of his swing.” Heyward works hard, but can he recapture the production his talent dictates he should? We’re waiting for an answer of yes, though the prevailing wisdom is that the 20/20 guy he was supposed to be may never show his face again. Draft him late, still young and talented, and this is the season to take a shot since the cost will be so low.

Ian Kinsler could still be dealt by the Tigers and it sounds like the Dodgers could be an option if they ever move on from their never-ending quest to add Brian Dozier. Set to earn $11 million this season with a club option for $12 million next year, the 34 year old Kinsler is still a heck of an offensive performer. Kinsler leads baseball in runs scored the past five years and was one steal, two homers and two RBI from a .285-30-85-115-15 season. Rather remarkably, for a player who dealt with a lot of physical woes early in his career, Kinsler has appeared in 161, 154 and 153 games the last two seasons.

Steven Wright is still rehabbing his injured shoulder. Still? He says he will be fine for Spring Training, but what is taking so long? Amazing that the start of this season is in doubt cause he was used as a pinch runner last season. Wright isn’t blaming his manager though. I wish people would stop blaming John [Farrell] for that. I was actually excited he called my name for that role,” Wright said. “I was completely prepared for it... I went through all my checkpoints. I told myself I was going to be aggressive and I got caught. That’s my fault. I landed wrong on my shoulder. That’s nobody’s fault. I could have been hurt stepping out of the shower. I could have been hurt if I had reached base the day I pitched two days before. I don’t know why people have to blame someone. It’s baseball.”


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