THE REDBIRD REVIEW
The Cardinals’ overloaded outfield carousel has revolved like crazy in 2023. Around and around and around. Outfielders getting on. Outfielders jumping off. Outfielders getting hurt. Outfielders falling off, or falling out of favor. New outfielders suddenly showing up with a ticket to ride. Outfielders in the round. Outfielders on the ground. Outfielders getting traded. Outfielders getting released. Outfielders making the St. Louis front office look bad after settling into their new baseball homes.
In John Mozeliak’s outfield circus, the bodies are everywhere … well, except for Randy Arozarena and Adolis Garcia. They were deemed non-essential and expandable, and went on to achieve stardom elsewhere.
It’s time to index this.
In order of the most playing time in a season, here’s the ever-changing St. Louis outfield parade through the years. I limited the annual list to those who had 50 or more plate appearances in the particular season.
Using wRC+ – which adjusts for ballpark effects and league trends – I’ll show the collective offensive performance each season and where St. Louis ranked in offense among the 30 outfield groups. The MLB average for wRC+ is 100.
2016
Outfielders with 50+ plate appearances: 6.
Most playing time: Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, Matt Holliday, Brandon Moss, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Tommy Pham.
Most frequently used outfield alignment, from left to right: Holliday, Grichuk and Piscotty … or Moss, Grichuk and Piscotty.
wRC+, 103.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 9th
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2017
Outfielders with 50+ PA: 7.
Most playing time: Pham, Dexter Fowler, Grichuk, Piscotty, Jose Martinez, Harrison Bader, Magneuris Sierra.
Most frequently used alignment from left to right: Pham, Fowler and Piscotty … or Grichuk, Fowler and Piscotty.
wRC+, 113.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 5th.
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2018
Outfielders with 50+ PA: 6.
Most playing time: Marcell Ozuna, Bader, Pham, Fowler, Martinez, Tyler O’Neill.
Most frequently used alignment, from left to right: Ozuna, Pham Fowler … or Ozuna, Bader, Fowler.
wRC+, 102.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 18th.
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2019
Outfielders with 50+ PA: 6.
Most playing time: Fowler, Ozuna, Bader, Martinez, O’Neill, Yairo Munoz.
Most frequently used alignment from left to right: Ozuna, Fowler, Jose Martinez … or Ozuna, Bader, Fowler.
wRC+, 101.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 16th.
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2020
Outfielders with 50+ PA: 5.
Most playing time: O’Neill, Bader, Dylan Carlson, Fowler, Tommy Edman.
Most frequently used alignment from left to right: Edman, Carlson and Fowler … or O’Neill, Bader and Fowler.
wRC, 86.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 23rd.
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2021
Outfielders with 50+ PA: 6.
Most playing time: Carlson, O’Neill, Bader, Edman, Justin Williams, Lars Nootbaar.
Most frequently used alignment from left to right: O’Neill, Bader, Carlson.
wRC+, 109.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 7th.
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2022
Outfielders with 50+ PA: 7.
Most playing time: Carlson, O’Neill, Nootbaar, Bader, Corey Dickerson, Brendan Donovan, Juan Yepez
Most frequently used alignment from left to right: O’Neill, Bader, Carlson … or O’Neill, Carlson and Nootbaar.
wRC+, 104.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 12th.
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2023
Outfielders with 50+ plate appearances: 8.
Most playing time: Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, O’Neill, Carlson, Alec Burleson, Edman, Donovan, Richie Palacios.
Most frequently used alignment, from left to right: So many combinations to go through. Too many, actually. But it basically comes down to this: Marmol used O’Neill in center field early on. When that didn’t work, the manager began rotating three guys for center-field duty. Nootbaar has played 492 innings in center, more than Carlson (368) and Edman (302.) Because of assorted ailments Carlson became a non-factor in CF and hasn’t played at all since Aug. 9. So in the later stages the choice in center has been Nootbaar, Edman, or at times Palacios (61 innings.) The center fielder o’ the day is usually flanked by Walker in right, with Nootbar or Burleson or Palacios in left. Before Donovan was rendered inactive by an elbow injury — he hasn’t played since July 29 — he had handled 143 innings in left without a problem. This is a pain in the neck to get through, eh? Absolute chaos. Non-stop. And for all of this incessant juggling the Cardinals are far from elite defensively or offensively in the outfield.
wRC+, 103.
MLB ranking for outfield offense: 14th.
I’ll be back in just a bit with another piece that looks at individual outfield candidates for 2024.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie hosts an opinionated sports-talk show on 590 The Fan, KFNS. It airs 3-6 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 4-6 p.m. on Friday. You can stream it live or access the show podcast on 590thefan.com or through the 590 The Fan St. Louis app.
Please follow Bernie on Twitter @miklasz
For weekly Cards talk, listen to the “Seeing Red” podcast with Will Leitch and Miklasz via 590thefan.com or through your preferred podcast platform. Follow @seeingredpod on Twitter for a direct link.
All stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, StatHead, Baseball Savant, Fielding Bible and Baseball Prospectus unless otherwise noted.
For the last 36 years Bernie Miklasz has entertained, enlightened, and connected with generations of St. Louis sports fans.
While best known for his voice as the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch for 26 years, Bernie has also written for The Athletic, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore News American. A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has hosted radio shows in St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore and Washington D.C.
Bernie, his wife Kirsten and their cats reside in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis.
