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Randal Grichuk is kicking the other NL rookies' butts - A Hunt and Peck

The one where I support Randal Grichuk's Rookie of the Year campaign.

By lil_scooter93
David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday night, the Reds led the Cardinals by a run with Aroldis Chapman in to pitch the ninth. Randal Grichuk was up and I tweeted something to the effect of If Grichuk hits a bomb off Chapman, I will write a post supporting his ROY campaign.

Well, he struck out.

But the following night, he did this:

<iframe src='http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=336894583&topic_id=6479266&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>

And since I had nothing better to write about, I figured that was good enough.

Y'all have read enough of these posts to figure out what comes next, right?

Player G PA HR ISO AVG OBP SLG wOBA wRC+ WAR
Player A 76 277 13 0.284 0.288 0.336 0.572 0.383 148 2.7
Player B 105 437 21 0.227 0.221 0.351 0.448 0.349 126 2.6
Player C 98 425 14 0.185 0.246 0.355 0.431 0.346 121 3.6
Player D 139 639 30 0.238 0.326 0.399 0.564 0.409 167 10.3

Ah, yes, the ole "List Anonymous Players With Their Respective Stats To Make a Point" trick.  But there is a reason why this trope is so popular: It is fun! And, more importantly, it is effective in making a point really quick. And the point is, one of these players is head and shoulders above the rest, and that player would be 2012 Mike Trout, or Player D in this chart. But if we look at the people on this list that are not baseball superhumans, there is one player who is clearly out hittin' the rest and that would be the Greek god himself, Randal Grichuk - Player A.

Now, contrary to my headline above, which was crafted to get your attention, this case is not a slam-dunk. Player B, Joc Pederson is right on Grich's heels, and Player C, Kris Bryant, has technically had a better season, even if both of those players have had almost twice as many plate appearances as our soul-patched hero. As the season comes to a close, however, it is something that will draw everyone's interest, especially with all three players looking to get into the playoffs. Of course, this is also an excuse to marvel at how good Mike Trout is.

*I have not even mentioned Noah Syndergaard, who is really probably having a better season than these three hitters, but shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

what else is going on in baseball...

  • Adrian Beltre hits the third cycle of his career. - MLB
  • A.J. Pierzynski makes a hilarious attempt to frame a pitch that bounced. - Cut4
  • LaTroy Hawkins suits up for his eleventh major league team. - Sports on Earth
  • This is an interesting article sent to me by Rick about the "Doyle System" and how teams with the best chance of making the World Series should be willing to pay the most to win now. Thanks, Rick! - FiveThirtyEight
  • The best MLB mid-season callups. - Sports on Earth
  • Nelson Cruz has his second home run streak of five games. - MLB
  • Did Mike Schmidt really hit a 500-foot home run? - Sports on Earth
  • Dave Dombrowski is out as the Tigers' general manager. - The Detroit News
  • How baseball is shaping the future of television. - The Verge
  • These people are under the most playoff pressure. - Sports on Earth
  • Is Carlos Correa baseball's best shortstop? - Fangraphs
  • Which division is the toughest? - Sports on Earth
  • Happy birthday, Mr. Trout! - Cut4
  • Pick your four years. - Fangraphs

what the cardinals are up to...

  • Habitat for Humanity St. Louis is selling tickets to the Cardinals game on Friday, September 25 in section 127 and 128. Tickets are $40 each, with $20 of each ticket sold going to benefit Habitat for Humanity STL programs. E-mail sarah@habitatstl.org for more info and to purchase tickets!
  • Mike Matheny wants aggressive baserunning. - STLToday

KNOW THINE ENEMY...
the milwaukee brewers

the nl central

  • The Cubs are now ahead of the Giants for the second Wild Card spot. - MLB
  • standings:

St. Louis Cardinals 69 39 .639 -
Pittsburgh Pirates 62 44 .585 6.0
Chicago Cubs 59 48 .551 9.5
Cincinnati Reds 48 58 .453 20.0
Milwaukee Brewers 47 63 .427 23.0
viva el stuff...

  • Ben Cerutti has been busy this week, writing three new fanposts.
    This one is about crafting the Cardinal batting order. -     Viva el Birdos
    The the Cardinals' MVP on offense is is discussed here. - Viva el Birdos
    And Ben looks at the bullpen usage in this post. - Viva el Birdos
  • I wrote this post about Cardinals Care, the good things the charity does for the community, and, oh, how the St. Louis Cardinals are absolutely not funneling money from it because that would be laughably ridiculous if it was not so horrible an accusation. - Viva el Birdos

other things...

weekly scoreboard:

Tuesday, August 4 Cardinals 2 Reds 3 VEB Recap RR Recap
Wednesday, August 5 Cardinals 4 Reds 3 VEB Recap RR Recap
Thursday, August 6 Cardinals 3 Reds 0 VEB Recap RR Recap

Send me links! Tweet me @lil_scooter93 or e-mail me at lil_scooter93 AT msn DOT com!

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