3 Players to Watch
- Jason Heyward – At 25, Jason Heyward enters his “walk” year and with a duplicate effort from his 2014 campaign, he is in for a significant payday. Heyward is the best defensive right fielder in baseball, potentially by a significant margin, and that is the “safe” part about what the Cardinals acquired in the offseason. As a baseline, Heyward is a 4-win player given his defense alone, but the offense has been sporadic at times, leaving some to (incorrectly) pin him as a bust in Atlanta. The 6-foot-5 outfielder has smashed 27 home runs in a season, but that was the only campaign (2012) when he topped 20, and between 20-steal seasons in 2012 and 2014, Heyward inexplicably snagged only two steals in 2013. What the Cardinals are getting is a bit of a mystery, but even if he is an average offensive player, he’s a marked upgrade on anything St. Louis trotted out in 2014.
- Matt Adams – With a fantastic pedigree in the minors and a 2013 season when Adams blasted 15 home runs in just over 300 plate appearances, expectations were sky high for the first baseman last year. Adams performed reasonably well, earning 2.1 fWAR with a .457 slugging percentage, but the hulking corner infielder hit just 15 home runs and that was surprising. What is Adams’ ceiling? Can he be a player who hits 30 home runs over a full season to make up for his athletic limitations, or is he simply a near-.300 hitter with 20 home run power? His age-26 season could be telling for Adams’ future, and with it, the future of the Cardinals at the position.
- Carlos Martinez – Simply put, Carlos Martinez is one of the hardest throwers in baseball. The 23-year-old right-hander routinely sits in the high-90’s with his fastball, and because of that, he was shifted to the bullpen in large part during the 2014 season, making 50 appearances in relief against just 7 starts. Now, though, Shelby Miller is gone and Martinez gets a full opportunity to succeed as a starter. His 4.28 ERA in the majors is a bit disconcerting, but given his (very) young age, Martinez certainly hasn’t hit his stride to this point, and it will be interesting to see how he performs early in the season.
Next: 3 Keys to Success