Three strategies to improve the Cardinals’ currently failing offensive.
Strangely enough, the St. Louis Cardinals’ pitching and defense have taken them to victories thus far. They are 9-10 heading into their weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Despite key bats like Paul Goldschmidt,, and Nolan Gorman not performing well to start the season, their OPS is the 24th highest in all of baseball.
The Cardinals are nearly.500 despite their team’s strength not living up to expectations, and I think they have all the elements needed to be a dominant offensive club in baseball. Still, the offense needs to get back on track for the club as quickly as possible, and it might be worth implementing some big adjustments to help it do so.
Here are three changes I believe could spark the offense right now while the big bats work on getting things right.
Fix #1 – Move Lars Nootbaar to center field
I understand the Cardinals have been resistant to the idea of moving Lars Nootbaar to center field, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Victor Scott II and Michael Siani are both hitting below .100 right now. If the top hitters in the Cardinals lineup were producing like they should right now, that really wouldn’t matter all that much. But while things are the way they are, the Cardinals may need to sacrifice some defense to get more runs on the board.
The Cardinals’ defense has taken major steps forward this year, and I understand why people don’t want to mess with that. It’s also fair to be worried that Nootbaar’s health could be at risk if he’s flying around center field every day. Here’s why I think it’s worth the risk:
1. Letting Nootbaar play center field for the time being is not a long-term commitment. Scott and Siani in center field are not the sole reasons the team’s defense has gotten a lot better. Winn playing shortstop every day, Nolan Arenado getting back to himself defensively, the continued strides from Nolan Gorman at second base, and Jordan Walker’s improvements in right field are a big part of the defense taking a step forward. I don’t think Nootbaar in center field would destabilize that, and if it somehow did, there’s nothing stopping them from switching back immediately.
2. Nootbaar has been prone to those weird injuries, and helping him avoid them is certainly important. But if he can’t find a way to stay healthy for the next month while they wait for Carlson or Edman to return, that’s a bigger issue in itself.
Moving Nootbaar to center field also allows the Cardinals to fit another significant bat into their lineup each day, something I’ll address next.
