Saturday, October 19, 2013

Carlos Beltran: Great Hitter

After signing with the St. Louis Cardinals on a 2-year deal after the Cardinals won the World Series Carlos Beltran has become into an essential hitter for the Cardinals with his .282 average for the Cardinals and ripping 56 home runs in just 2 seasons. He has definitely lived up to the 2-year 26 million dollar contract he signed.

Beltran was considered to be on the decline when the Cardinals signed him which made sense since he hadn't hit 25 homers in a season since 2008. He did have a solid 2011 with a .300 average and 22 homers but people worried about his age and the Cardinals picked him up on the cheap compared to what other players have done. He proceeded to do extremely well for the Cardinals with 56 home runs plus 5 postseason homers. In 2012 he had his highest WAR since 2008. He has declined a bit since last season despite his batting average being better, but those numbers were key to helping the Cardinals win the NL pennant.

Beltran has been hitting the ball harder with his highest LD% in a full season in his career and some of the best seasons overall for him. It also raises the question of who he will play for next year. Will it be the Cardinals? Or will it be the Yankees?

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