David Freese

Giving a piece of candy to a child that just fell off their bike doesn't always work, but it always helps. Cardinal fans fell off their bike in December when Albert Pujols signed a mega deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Fortunately for them, a new face of the franchise had risen up just two months before. 23 is the new 5 in St. Louis.

After receiving the NLCS MVP award, Freese compiled a World Series that he will never forget- never will Cardinal fans. David not only set a record for the most RBI's in a single postseason, but he also had one of the most dramatic home runs in World Series history. Not to mention a two RBI tripe that saved their season the at-bat before. This is all ancient history for Cardinals fans and David Freese fans across the world.

Cardinal fans are now turning to #23 to provide the game-saving clutch hits and the consistent offense that carries a team out of a slump. While he may be an extremely clutch hitter, his numbers show that he won't produce nearly as much as fans anticipate. If all things go well, I think Freese could top out at a solid .280 average with 20+ home runs and 90 RBIs. Nothing like the .330, 35, 110 numbers that Albert would put up annually.

Freese posted a very good 13.2 at-bats per home run in the postseason last year. In his major league career (regular season only), his at-bats per home run is 40.27. That's quite a difference. Over 550 at-bats, that's the difference between 42 home runs and 14. In his minor league career, his AB/HR is 21.6. That would carry out to be 25 home runs for 550 at-bats. However, he could become a more powerful hitter and hit a little lower average, or he could go for average and drop a little power. I think he will be more of a .280-.290 hitter compared to the nearly .300 career hitter he is now. One stat that worries me is his strikeout rate: 4.3 K's/AB. That's 128 strikeouts folks.

Freese's defense is one attribute that is underrated because of his great offense as well as his backup's Daniel Descalso's superb defense. I have seen Freese make some great defensive plays, and I think he is a Gold Glover in the making. While he is not a five tool player, he does possess the most important two tools- he has great offense and terrific defense. I would not be surprised if he was elected to the All Star Game this year, although there is tough competition with David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman, and Hanley Ramirez (all NL East).