United Cardinal Bloggers Roundtable:The Sophomore Class
Each day during the month of February, the United Cardinal Bloggers fire off an email roundtable discussion about all things baseball – from serious talk of lineups and rotations to the lighter side of the game such as wishlists for musical acts during the 2011 World Series at Busch. If you missed some of the fun, check out the full list of roundtable questions and responses at http://www.unitedcardinalbloggers.com/.
This weekend, it was our turn to come up with a question. And since we gals love our babybirds, we decided to focus on the youngsters. We asked our fellow bloggers to predict how the Cardinals’ Sophomore class would fare during the 2011 season.
Angela threw the topic into the ring with this email question:
“Let’s focus on a less threatening question today and look at all of the sophomores on the Cardinals roster. Who of these players is due for a big season, and who is in for a sophomore slump? Your choices: David Freese, Jon Jay, Allen Craig, and Jaime Garcia.”
Bill Ivie (I-70 baseball)
I look for Jon Jay to have a bit of a slump as he adjusts to being a part time player most of the time this year.
As for breakout years, as much as I have said the opposite, my gut and hope is that Craig is due to show that he belongs in the bigs. My mind tells me that is not going to happen and we have a better shot of a solid year from the glass ankles of David Freese. I would look for Mr. Freese to put up a solid .280/20HR/85RBI season and be considered a solid option at third for a few years
Christine Coleman (Aaron Miles’ Fastball)
If Freese can stay healthy, I think he will be due for a big season. He definitely showed the potential during his healthy times last year, so staying healthy throughout all of 2011 will likely be his biggest challenge. If he can meet it, he should have a big year. I think that Jaime Garcia will have a little bit of a sophomore slump, yet still play a very significant role in the Cards rotation (all the more important now). Like others have already said, I think that Jon Jay will have a little bit of a sophomore slump just based on his presumptive decrease in playing time. Hopefully Craig will see his playing time increase this season as well.
Bob Netherton (On The Outside Corner)
For a breakout season, you have to go with David Freese because either way it goes, you’ll be right :-) He’ll either hit .280, 12 homers and drive in 75 runs or some part of a stadium will fall on him in a game and break some body part. David Freese is more than just a baseball player, he’s a walking anatomy lesson.
The sophomore slump will have to go to Jon Jay, although that’s not altogether fair. The lack of consistent playing time will hurt him somewhat. Add to that some expectations from last year that are unrealistically high, he will have the perception of slumping.
I do believe that Jaime Garcia will defy all of the projections and have a terrific year. Every once in a while a player comes along that just doesn’t fit the model, and I believe Garcia is that player.