St. Louis Cardinals: Keep Your Eye On Oscar Taveras

The Cardinals hidden gem, Oscar Taveras. Photo
credit MLB 

by Steve Painter 

Cards fans are excited and so is the organization, although they are cautious, about the impact Oscar Taveras will have on the club, not only this year, but for years to come. But we all know about patience, right? When it comes to a player like Taveras, we want to see him now, and it seems Taveras is willing and ready.

Last year was marred by a high ankle sprain, which led to surgery. Taveras has been rehabbing and said he is feeling great and that means he should be ready for Spring Training. In fact, the club has had Taveras fly in once a month to check in with medical staff and do some rehab work in St. Louis.

The Cardinals steered him to a facility called Central Institute for Human Performance, as they have a relationship there. David Freese and Chris Carpenter have trained there, and currently Matt Holliday and Trevor Rosenthal use them for their workouts. Both Holliday and Rosenthal have witnessed the Taveras workouts and are impressed by his work ethic and strength.

Taveras is just 21, but he is clearly a star in the making. Full of raw talent and energy, his stats tell the story of why he is so hyped. He hit .306 with a .341 on-base percentage and a .462 slugging percentage in 46 games last season. He was the organization's minor-league player of the year in 2012, batting .321 with 23 home runs, 67 extra base hits, and 94 RBI's for Class A Springfield. GM John Mozeliak says that he is the best hitting prospect the organization has had since Albert Pujols.

In 2012, had Carlos Beltran been injured, Taveras would have been promoted to the majors for the postseason. And with the injury last year, well, let's just say the time has come for Taveras to show his stuff. Mozeliak would have liked to see him play in center field last year, to see what he could do, and with the acquisition of Peter Bourjos, along with team member Jon Jay, the position seems covered now.

And it could be that with Allen Craig manning right field, that Taveras will start the season at triple-A. The last thing the Cards want to do is limit his development by sitting him on the bench when he could be getting at bats in the minors.

But Bourjos is not a sure thing, he has to prove that he can improve his dismal on-base numbers. Oh, he's fast and can steal bases, but he has to get on base first. And if he falters, then Taveras might get a shot in center. And if Craig suffers an injury, he could get some time in right field.

His time will come and fans should be thankful the cupboard is full in St. Louis. No need to rush, just exercise that patience a little while longer.