January 21, 2016

The Cardinals Leadoff Hitter

Benjamin Hochman makes the case for Stephen Piscotty to bat lead off for the Cardinals.

Here’s why — the one constant through all his years has been on-base percentage. The worst on-base percentage he’s tallied in the pro game was .348 for the Palm Beach Cardinals. During four seasons of minor league ball, Piscotty’s on-base percentage was .360. Naturally, players will slip a little once they get to the majors, and such was the case for Piscotty, whose OBP for the big team was … .359.

Piscotty has some pop, as we saw in the postseason, when he became just the third rookie to hit three homers in a series. But if the Cardinals are weighing options, acknowledging potential swatting from Carpenter, and Grichuk, and Matt Holliday, and whoever plays first base, then Piscotty could be a fair choice for leadoff.

My personal opinion is that the Cardinals should accept Matt Carpenter as the lead-off hitter. The home runs seem to indicate he should bat lower in the lineup, but his history shows he is most comfortable at the top of the order. I remember Bobby Bonds was like this. The Yankees tried to move him down in the lineup, but he was more comfortable leading off, so the Yankees left him there. (They also traded him after one season.) Carpenter gets on base and hits lots of doubles. On a team that doesn’t lack for power, he’s the perfect person at the top of the order.

1 thought on “The Cardinals Leadoff Hitter

  1. Robert Stemmons

    Bobby Bonds — good call! Indeed it is hard to ignore Carpenter’s own preference and the team’s better winning percentage when he’s there. Piscotty looks good at no. 2 (so would Wong if he exercised a bit of bat control and didn’t try to swing out of his shorts every time). My thought though is Piscotty at 3 backed by Holliday at 4 (horror!) and Grichuk at 5, since the Cards aren’t going to bring in any free agent punch.

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