St. Louis Cardinals: Evaluating All the Outfielders in This Year’s Camp
On the Bubble
It’s very likely that Tommy Pham will make the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster in 2016 after hitting .314 with four homers and 15 RBI over the final two months of the 2015 season, then delivering a clutch homer in Game 1 of the NLDS that helped lift the Cards to victory. However, it’s important to remember that Pham, who will be 28 next month, still has just 155 at-bats under his belt, and he doesn’t have a right to a roster spot if he underperforms during spring training.
The Cardinals did bring in some competition for Pham in the form of 28-year-old Carlos Peguero, a veteran of five big-league seasons who has a .194/.263/.384 slash line and 13 homers through 319 career plate appearances. Pham will certainly have the advantage over Peguero in that he’s a skilled center fielder, while the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Peguero has played just 117 innings in center during his pro career. If the Cardinals don’t keep Pham on the roster, that would likely make Stephen Piscotty, who started playing center on a limited basis last season, the primary backup to Randal Grichuk.
Next: Not Likely