Marcell Ozuna is the Cardinals player to watch - A Hunt and Peck

MLB.com has compiled a list of the players to watch for each team in Major League Baseball. It should come as little surprise that the Cardinals player to watch is new acquisition Marcell Ozuna. Per Joe Trezza of MLB.com:

Ozuna is the Cardinals’ [player to watch] because St. Louis hasn’t seen a slugger like him in years, and because its postseason pursuit hinges on perhaps no player more.

He hits 468-foot homers and swats 113.4 mph singles (per Statcast™). He hits good pitching. But he’s also the club’s player to watch because his swing drives as many balls out as the people his persona draws in.

At twenty-seven years old Marcell Ozuna is coming off his best season having batted a .312/.376/.548 slash line for a wRC+ of 142 and also earning a Gold Glove in left field, amounting to 4.8 fWAR for 2017.

And of course, as Trezza states, there is the fUN metric. It is difficult to quantify, so I will just leave this here...

I will just leave these links here, too:

Marcell Ozuna helped Jose Altuve adjust his uniform and cap before the Cardinals-Astros game | MLB.com

Marcell Ozuna homered in back-to-back games while using Ichiro Suzuki's bat | MLB.com

The Cardinals’ New Slugger Is Also a Bat Thief | WSJ

Marcell Ozuna has a history of stealing teammates' bats, so which Cardinal's will he steal first? | MLB.com

Marcell Ozuna ready to energize Cardinals fans | St. Louis Cardinals

Players to watch for all 30 MLB clubs in 2018 | MLB.com

what else is going on in baseball...

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what the cardinals are doing...

The Cardinals' Roster Churn Since 2015 Has Been Dramatic | 101Sports.com

BenFred: Cardinals' bet on young pitching faces early test | Ben Frederickson | stltoday.com

Injuries to Wainwright, Gregerson spark questions about Cardinals pitchers sprinting | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com

Hard-throwing Hicks surprises Molina and Nationals | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com

KNOW THINE ENEMY...

the nl central

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A cautionary look at some Cubs spring training stats | Bleed Cubbie Blue

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