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Arch Awards: Who Was the Rising Star of St. Louis Sports in 2016?

By Patrick Karraker

Oct 2, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz (36) throws on the run to force out Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Pedro Florimon (not pictured) during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 10-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz (36) throws on the run to force out Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Pedro Florimon (not pictured) during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 10-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aledmys Diaz St. Louis Cardinals
Oct 2, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz (36) throws on the run to force out Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Pedro Florimon (not pictured) during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 10-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Rebuilding efforts for several teams on the St. Louis sports scene created plenty of opportunities for rookies in 2016. Which of those players is most deserving of our Rising Star award?

If not an overall “down year”, it was largely a year of transition across the St. Louis sports scene. The Cardinals missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016, Mizzou football failed to reach bowl eligibility for the second straight season, and Mizzou and SLU basketball struggled both during conference play in the 2015-16 season and thus far during non-conference play in 2016-17. Other than the Blues’ appearance in the Western Conference Finals, there wasn’t a whole lot of success to be found.

For the glass half full crowd of fans, though, that lack of success provided plenty of opportunities for new young players to step up and prove themselves. We saw plenty of breakout athletes in St. Louis sports during 2016, perhaps no more than on a transitioning Cardinals club that largely relied on a youthful core and got unexpected contributions from quite a few previously unproven players.

With this in mind, we’ve got plenty of candidates for our Rising Star Arch Award, which is to be awarded to the rookie who made the most profound impact on their team during the 2016 calendar year. Over the next few slides, we’ll look at four candidates who made big contributions to their respective clubs this year and have a chance to be stars for a long while.

Without further ado, we’ll begin with a Mizzou freshman who inspired confidence that the football program might be ready to turn around sooner than later:

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