Could a Familiar Face Return?

The Cardinal Chronicle
Could a Familiar Face Return?
ST. LOUIS — By Ray Mileur

When the New York Yankees designated veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk for assignment on Wednesday, it quietly put a familiar name back on the baseball radar in St. Louis.

For Cardinals fans, Grichuk is more than a transaction note buried on the wire. He’s a former first-round talent who spent parts of five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, launching 66 home runs in a Cardinals uniform and carving out a reputation as a hard-nosed player with legitimate right-handed power.

He was never a polished, high on-base hitter. That was never his game.
Grichuk’s game was built on strength, athleticism, and the ability to change a scoreboard with one swing. At his best, he could punish left-handed pitching, drive the ball into the gaps, and provide quality defense in the outfield. For stretches in St. Louis, he looked like a player destined to be a long-term piece of the Cardinals’ core.

Baseball, however, has a way of changing the script.

Now 34, Grichuk finds himself at a crossroads after struggling in limited duty with New York, batting just .194 with a .535 OPS in 33 plate appearances. His role with the Yankees was narrow — a platoon bat designed to do damage against left-handed pitching — and the production simply never came.
Still, there may be more here than meets the eye.

Grichuk owns 212 career home runs and has long made a living hammering southpaws, posting a career .268 average with an .816 OPS against left-handed pitching. Players with that kind of specialized skill often find another opportunity, particularly clubs looking for inexpensive veteran depth.

That raises an interesting question:

Should the Cardinals kick the tires?

The honest answer is probably no — at least not for the major league roster.
St. Louis is committed to getting younger, and roster spots are increasingly valuable. Between emerging young outfielders and organizational depth already in place, there’s little room for a nostalgia signing.

But baseball men know this: veteran right-handed bats with power usually get a phone call.

If Grichuk is released, a minor league deal somewhere would make sense. Whether that call comes from St. Louis is doubtful — though Cardinals fans would surely smile at the thought of seeing an old friend back in Birds on the Bat.

Sometimes baseball circles back home.

Sometimes it doesn’t.

But in St. Louis, names like Randal Grichuk aren’t forgotten.