Dexter Fowler — the Missing Piece for Cards?

Dexter Fowler — the Missing Piece for Cards?

St. Louis Cardinals bolster their defense and increase an already dangerous lineup with the signing of a for-mer Chicago Cub

sports@theeveningtimes.com

A year after the Chicago Cubs signed Jason Heyward from the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cardinals repaid the favor by snatching speedy outfielder Dexter Fowler from the reigning World Champions. Fowler comes to the Cardinals following a year in which the veteran tied his second-best batting average for a single season, hitting .276 on the year. The former Cub, who stole 13 bases last season, also brings much needed speed to the Cardinals roster. As a team, St. Louis only swiped 35 bases from opposing teams last season.

After losing Matt Holliday to the New York Yankees, the Cardinals desperately needed another outfielder. Outside of Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty, the most experienced outfielder on the Cardinals roster was Tommy Pham. Pham made the most of his third season in the big leagues last year but is not quite ready to take the main stage full time. Fowler, a nine-year veteran, should be able to anchor the Cardinals outfield and compliment Grichuk and Piscotty nicely.

O ffensively, the switchhitting Fowler allows St. Louis to move around some key pieces in their battling lineup. Matt Carpenter acted as lead-off man most of the 2016 season and did quite well hitting .271 through 129 games. However, players with Carpenters power and contact ability, 63 extra base hits including 21 home runs last season, typically are utilized further down in the order. The Cardinals relied on Carpenter to bat lead-off for a few reasons. One, to get one of the team’s better hitters more at-bats. But also, because St. Louis lacked any other players as reliable at the plate with decent speed.

That changes with Fowler. Mixing in All-Star caliber shortstop Aledmys Diaz, a potential Cardinals batting order could look much differently. Assuming all the players are healthy, St. Louis could begin the season with Fowler leading off followed by Diaz, Carpenter and power hitters Johnny Peralta or Matt Adams depending on the game plan of the day. Fowler, who accounted for 126 hits in 125 games last season, leading off the Cardinals increases the chances of a man being on base when the Cardinals power-hitters come to the plate. Having base-runners is essential for the Cardinals, a team that led the National League in homeruns with 225 longballs last season.

Hopefully for the Cardinals, Fowler works out better than St. Louis’ big offseason signing last year which came in the form of starting pitcher Mike Leake. Leake, who signed with St. Louis for five years at 80 million dollars, finished the season with a 9-12 record and a 4.69 earned run average.

Leake was not the only veteran pitcher to let the Cardinals down last season though. Aces Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha also had subpar years. However, with an abundance of young arms in Alex Reyes, Luke Weaver and All-Star Carlos Martinez, expect the Cardinals pitching rotation to look more like the 2015 version rather than last year’s version.

The possibility of fewer runs given up and more runs scored is exciting for the Cardinals. Fowler looks to contribute a lot to the latter category. While the signing of Fowler brings the Cardinals a sense of revenge from their bitter rivals the Chicago Cubs, it also brings consistent play in the outfield and exhilarating possibilities in the Cardinals batting lineup.

By Collins Peeples