Positional battle: OF

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say this again: this OF could be very fun to watch this year. They’re young, but the also seem like they actually want to be here (**cough** Juan Encarnacion **cough**). I see 6 people on the roster that are competing for the 3 starting spots, not including a possible non roster invitee in Juan Gonzalez.

The first person I’m going to look at is the one person that will nab at worse a platoon job, Chris Duncan. Duncan has probably the most pop of the outfielders, but he’s also the worst OFer. I saw a lot of improvement at the beginning of the season last year, and I expect him to continue to improve. I would like to see Duncan play him more against lefties so that at some point he can play everyday. I see him at worse as a left field platoon, and a back up first baseman.

The next most likely starter is Rick Ankiel. He started out amazing last year when he got called up, but then slumped badly when the news came out about him using HGH. I think his arm suits him best for RF, but he will most likely get some innings in center. He can hit anywhere in the order, and will most likely be used in the 2, 5, or 6 spot, with the occasional lead off duties.

Colby Rasmus is by far the most heralded prospect to come through the Cardinals system in awhile. At this point, nobody really knows whether or not he’s going to be in the majors this year. I’m pretty sure that if he spends 1 month in the minors that the Cardinals get another year of arbitration, which would lead to management wanting him to spend another month at least in the minors. However, LaRussa has recently said that if he’s one of the top 5 OFers, he’ll stay, so I’m guessing he’ll be in the majors. I think that he has the most talent on the team, and should start in center, but my guess is this will be another lefty-righty platoon.

The Cardinals picked up Brian Barton in the rule 5 draft. He can play anywhere in the OF by the looks of it; futerredbirds.com has a good analysis of him here. If we want to keep him, he’s going to have to stay on the major league roster all year unless he goes on the DL. I expect him to stay up, unless management decides to parlay his knee injury into a DL stint, which then turns into a rehab stint, which results in him not having to be up until the All star break. Look for him to be in a platoon this year as one of the righty-lefty matches in the OF.

A huge surprise in the outfield last year was Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick is reliable both offensively and defensively, and there’s nothing much to day about him. I expect him to get a decent amount of time in the OF, and don’t expect him to end up anywhere but the majors.

Skip Shumaker is another left handed bat trying to make his way into the OF. He had a .333 AVG last year in 88 games, but only a .816 AVG. I think Shumaker’s chances of making the team is the inverse of whatever Rasmus’s is-I see one on the team, but not the other. If we kept them both, 4 of the 5 OFers would be left handed, and we all know how much LaRussa loves playing those leftie against lefties.

An interesting player is the before mentioned Juan Gonzalez. Is he in as good of shape as Albert Pujols says he is? Is he back at his MVP level? I doubt both, and I don’t want to see him taking the spot of one of the younger guys.

This is by far the most depth I can remember at the OF position as far as possible starters go. I see it as the top 4 spots being taken at this point between Duncan, Ankiel, Barton, and Ludwick. That leaves the last spot open for Rasmus, Shumaker, or Gonzalez. I could see LaRussa keeping Gonzalez up, but I would rather see one of the lefties. Even though LaRussa says its not the case, I think Rasmus staying up will come down to whether or not he’s going to be starting. No matter who’s out there, the OF will be by far the most fun position to watch this year….

Prediction: Rasmus CF, Duncan/Ludwick LF, Ankiel RF

As always, let me know what you would do

The Purple Iguana