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Editor's Note: Two years ago, Site Manager Ben Humphrey asked readers to provide predictions for Cardinals baseball players. Last year, he renewed that request, and although Ben is in blogger retirement, we at VEB are re-renewing the request to predict how the Cardinals will do.
Next up: Jedd Gyorko
Last season, Jhonny Peralta started in a lot of games. Kolten Wong started in a lot of games. Matt Carpenter started in a lot of games. The first two players saw their numbers take a big dive in the second half, while Carpenter posted great numbers, but was also sidelined with exhaustion early on in the season. Most of the blame for that situation appears to have gone to Pete Kozma, who was ostensibly the backup at all three positions but received just 18 starts all year long. While Mike Matheny probably deserves some criticism as well, John Mozeliak sought out to avoid that situation this year by trading Jon Jay for a proven infielder in Jedd Gyorko.
Gyorko was once a very promising player for San Diego, but his production has tailed off in recent years. Here is how he did last season:
Jedd Gyorko | PA | HR | R | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | WAR |
2015 | 458 | 16 | 34 | 57 | 0 | 0.247 | 0.297 | 0.397 | 0.301 | 93 | 0.7 |
Will it help Gyorko to face more left-handed pitchers to give Wong a break along with occasionally spelling Carpenter and Peralta? It is tough to tell. Gyorko is tough on home run hitters although Busch Stadium is no picnic either, especially for right-handers. How often Matheny deploys is another question up for debate.
Gyorko's FanGraphs page with his Steamer projection can be found here and the Cardinals ZiPS can be found here. Help us out. Tell us what you think.
Thank you for your help. Did you miss any other projections? Visit our projections section or click on the player links below.