Randal Grichuk

St. Louis Cardinals: Randal Grichuk is the new Matt Holliday

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The St. Louis Cardinals have officially declined Matt Holliday’s 2017 option and have officially relocated Randal Grichuk.

Matt Holliday gave so much to these St. Louis Cardinals. He was amazing. Well, his offense was amazing. His defense wasn’t horrible (not like Chris Duncan‘s humorous left field) but his range and effectiveness made it very important to have an outstanding center fielder.

As Holliday started to fade in left field, Mozeliak grabbed two players from the Angels to back-fill the center spot: Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk. Jon Jay was on the team at the time of this trade but his defense in center was not necessarily strong enough to assist with Holliday’s lacking range.

Bourjos was brought thanks to his speed and his promise to fill the gap in center. While Bourjos had speed, his defense didn’t show to be any stronger in center than that of Jay. To add insult to injury, neither Jay nor Bourjos were able to get their bats functional at the plate.

This was when Randal Grichuk made his move. What was an accessory piece to the Bourjos trade was quickly becoming the gem of the trade. Grichuk made a name for himself in spring training and even in Memphis such that he found his way to the St. Louis Cardinals and found his way into playing center field on a daily basis.

Let’s take a look at his defensive numbers with the St. Louis Cardinals:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff		G	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%
2014	22	Memphis	PCL	AAA	STL	CF	36	296.1	70	68	2	0	0	1.000
2014	22	Memphis	PCL	AAA	STL	LF	53	438.1	80	71	7	2	0	.975
2014	22	Memphis	PCL	AAA	STL	RF	12	85.0	27	27	0	0	0	1.000
2014	22	STL	NL	MLB	STL	CF	5		18	17	0	1	0	.944
2014	22	STL	NL	MLB	STL	LF	5		7	7	0	0	0	1.000
2014	22	STL	NL	MLB	STL	RF	28		33	30	2	1	0	.970
2015	23	STL	NL	MLB	STL	CF	37
2015	23	STL	NL	MLB	STL	LF	49
2015	23	STL	NL	MLB	STL	OF	85	719.2	156	151	2	3	1	.981
2015	23	STL	NL	MLB	STL	RF	13
2016	24	Memphis	PCL	AAA	STL	CF	17	131.1	31	30	1	0	0	1.000
2016	24	Memphis	PCL	AAA	STL	OF	17	131.1	31	30	1	0	0	1.000
2016	24	STL	NL	MLB	STL	CF	115	949.1	229	221	8	0	1	1.000
2016	24	STL	NL	MLB	STL	LF	4	27.0	7	7	0	0	0	1.000
2016	24	STL	NL	MLB	STL	OF	119	994.1	241	232	8	1	1	.996
2016	24	STL	NL	MLB	STL	RF	3	18.0	5	4	0	1	0	.800
MLB (3 seasons)		MLB		CF	157	949.1	247	238	8	1	1
MLB (3 seasons)		MLB		LF	58	27.0	14	14	0	0	0
MLB (2 seasons)		MLB		OF	204	1714.0	397	383	10	4	2	.990
MLB (3 seasons)		MLB		RF	44	18.0	38	34	2	2	0
Minors (6 seasons)		Minors		CF	128	1070.0	285	273	10	2	1	.993
Minors (3 seasons)		Minors		LF	99	842.2	133	121	9	3	0	.977
Minors (6 seasons)		Minors		RF	308	2665.1	645	609	26	10	9	.984

Notice that he has notched experience at all of the outfield spots. While his sample size is small for left field, he has held well at .977 fielding percentage in the minors at left. That said, Memphis has a wide left field and this makes playing this spot difficult unless the center fielder can cover a great deal of ground. This will stand true in St. Louis too.

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The Cardinals have announced that Grichuk will replace the outgoing Holliday in left field in 2017 thus opening the door for a new center fielder. Before diving further, let’s compare Grichuk and Holliday to see if this is an improvement.

Grichuk:

Year	Tm	Age	Pos	G	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	Rtot
2014	STL	22	CF	5	29.0	18	17	0	1	0	.944	2
2014	STL	22	LF	5	31.0	7	7	0	0	0	1.000	2
2015	STL	23	LF	49	344.1	63	60	1	2	0	.968	2
2015	STL	23	CF	37	282.0	72	71	1	0	1	1.000	3
2016	STL	24	CF	115	949.1	229	221	8	0	1	1.000	0
2016	STL	24	LF	4	27.0	7	7	0	0	0	1.000	1
	3 Seasons	CF	157	1260.1	319	309	9	1	2	.997	5
	3 Seasons	LF	58	402.1	77	74	1	2	0	.974	4
	3 Seasons	TOT	239	1932.1	455	437	12	6	2	.987	8

Grichuk holds an Rtot (runs above pr below average a player is worth based on the number of plays made) of four when playing in left field and a five when playing in center.

Holliday:

Year	Tm	Lg	Age	Pos	G	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	Rtot
2009	STL	NL	29	LF	62	540.2	88	86	1	1	0	.989	0
2010	STL	NL	30	LF	155	1341.2	272	261	8	3	0	.989	-0
2011	STL	NL	31	LF	115	990.2	203	196	4	3	0	.985	-1
2012	STL	NL	32	LF	152	1312.2	235	226	6	3	1	.987	-13
2013	STL	NL	33	LF	136	1150.1	215	212	2	1	1	.995	8
2014	STL	NL	34	LF	150	1280.2	252	240	5	7	1	.972	0
2015	STL	NL	35	LF	64	495.1	85	85	0	0	0	1.000	-2
2016	STL	NL	36	LF	84	644.0	113	111	2	0	0	1.000	-7
	13 Seasons	LF	1698	14482.2	2947	2832	67	48	12	.984	-31
	13 Seasons	TOT	1708	14544.1	3022	2897	77	48	17	.984	-30

Holliday holds an Rtot of negative thirty-one over his thirteen-season career in left field. When Holliday joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009 he held the average for two seasons in left. His best season was in 2013 when he ranked at eight points above the average that season in left.

In short, Grichuk will be a defensive improvement over Holliday in left. How about offense? Let’s compare (which might not be a fair comparison). These are Grichuk’s numbers:

Year	Age	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2014	22	STL	47	110	11	27	6	1	3	8	0	2	5	31	.245	.278	.400	.678
2015	23	STL	103	323	49	89	23	7	17	47	4	2	22	110	.276	.329	.548	.877
2016	24	STL	132	446	66	107	29	3	24	68	5	4	28	141	.240	.289	.480	.769
3 Yrs	282	879	126	223	58	11	44	123	9	8	55	282	.254	.302	.495	.797
162 Game Avg.	162	505	72	128	33	6	25	71	5	5	32	162	.254	.302	.495	.797

And these are Holliday’s numbers:

Year	Age	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2009	29	STL	63	235	42	83	16	2	13	55	2	4	26	43	.353	.419	.604	1.023
2010 ★	30	STL	158	596	95	186	45	1	28	103	9	5	69	93	.312	.390	.532	.922
2011 ★	31	STL	124	446	83	132	36	0	22	75	2	1	60	93	.296	.388	.525	.912
2012 ★	32	STL	157	599	95	177	36	2	27	102	4	4	75	132	.295	.379	.497	.877
2013	33	STL	141	520	103	156	31	1	22	94	6	1	69	86	.300	.389	.490	.879
2014	34	STL	156	574	83	156	37	0	20	90	4	1	74	100	.272	.370	.441	.811
2015 ★	35	STL	73	229	24	64	16	1	4	35	2	1	39	49	.279	.394	.410	.804
2016	36	STL	110	382	48	94	20	1	20	62	0	0	35	71	.246	.322	.461	.782
13 Yrs	1773	6583	1104	1995	448	32	295	1153	107	37	744	1230	.303	.382	.515	.897
162 Game Avg.	162	601	101	182	41	3	27	105	10	3	68	112	.303	.382	.515	.897

STL (8 yrs)	982	3581	573	1048	237	8	156	616	29	17	447	667	.293	.380	.494	.874

Fair comparison? Holliday has played longer and thus has a larger sample size but he has been weakened of late thanks to age and injury. On the opposite side of things, the younger Grichuk joined the St. Louis Cardinals around .240 BA, climbed to around .270, and regressed in 2016 back around .240. If Grichuk can regain the .270s then he can well replace Holliday at the plate.

I feel confident that Grichuk can grow accordingly as needed for the St. Louis Cardinals. I feel that his replacing Holliday will work extremely well in the field and that he can grow at the plate. He is not the same as the younger Holliday but is certainly better than the Holliday of late.

I am a huge Matt Holliday fan and will hate to see him go. Maybe he won’t be going anywhere but he is likely headed to the American League to serve as a designated hitter. If this is his future, then the St. Louis Cardinals are simply not the right place for this future.