St. Louis Cardinals Option Randal Grichuk to Triple-A Memphis, Recall Tommy Pham
The St. Louis Cardinals made a drastic move on Saturday afternoon, optioning a 2015 Rookie of the Year candidate who was expected to be the lifeblood of their offense this season to Triple-A.
The St. Louis Cardinals made a move on Saturday that few could have predicted them making before the season, as they optioned center fielder Randal Grichuk to Triple-A Memphis.
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Grichuk, who was a candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2015 after hitting .276/.329/.548 with 17 homers and 47 RBI in 350 plate appearances, significantly regressed this season, and the recall of second baseman-turned-center fielder
Kolten Wongon Friday seemed to be the last nail in the coffin for Grichuk’s hopes of regular playing time.
An 0-for-3 effort in Friday’s start certainly didn’t help his cause, and he now leaves St. Louis with a .206/276/.392 line, eight homers, and 27 RBI in 2016. While perhaps there’s just a mental block for Grichuk that can be worked out in a lower-pressure environment, it stands to reason that he’s never fully recovered from the elbow injury that sidelined him last August, and like Allen Craig before him, has seen his approach and production massively suffer as a result. In 238 at-bats since returning from the injury (including the postseason), Grichuk is hitting just .197.
The Cardinals will hope that two straight good games at Triple-A, which have raised his batting average by 20 percentage points, are a good springboard for Pham to work out his issues at the plate. Going into Thursday’s game, Pham was hitting .216 with one homer on the season at Memphis, but after Friday’s standout performance, he had raised his season slash line to .236/.344/.382 with three homers and 17 RBI. Though it came over a rather small sample size, Pham showed that he could be effective against major-league pitching in September of last year, accumulating a .322/.359/.661 slash line with four homers and 13 RBI in 59 at-bats.
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For the time being, Wong and Stephen Piscotty will likely get most of the time in center field, with Brandon Moss sliding into right field when Piscotty starts in center. If he makes a statement with the playing time that he’s given, though, Pham could definitely also work his way back into the mix.