4/2/2009 Colby Rasmus
Colby Rasmus 2-4 3 RBI 1 HR
Corner outfield a good move for Rasmus
A new face will be patrolling the outfield for the Saint Louis Cardnials this year. Bird fans are all too familiar with the name, Colby Rasmus. High hopes have surrounded him ever since he was taken in the draft out of Russell County Alabama. 29 home runs in AA Springfield shot those already high expectations up a bit further.
An injury filled and troubled 2008 tempered those expectations a bit. Casual fans still see him as an elite prospect, and some of the die hard fans are on the fence. Scouts have not backed off of their original assessment of Rasmus saying that his struggles were entirely due to a hip injury.
The Cardnials have decided to push him to a corner outfield spot for this year, and I think that is a great move. Added body weight slows you down, just ask Andruw Jones. Rasmus has bulked up considerably from his minor league days, which is probably the best course of action seeing as how his offensive skill set matches up with a power hitter rather than a balanced Grady Sizemore type.
This spring Rasmus has still struck out a ton, leading the team with 25 over 26 games. However added patience is also there, as I saw many long counts and more walks than I expected. In this appearance versus the Florida Marlins he managed to go deep versus a very good major league pitcher in Josh Johnson. Later he added another RBI on a sacrifice fly, but the strike outs were still a problem as he went down twice in 4 at bats.
Cardinals’ Rasmus hits first homer of spring[Rick Hummel / St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
April 3rd, 2009 - 20:56
Rasmus will make an already dangerous Cards outfield better. Moving him to a corner probably makes great sense, especially since Ankiel seems to hold his own pretty well in center. If he even provides moderate power, Rasmus will easily be an upgrade over Shumacker, who is moving to second to make room for the phenom.
April 3rd, 2009 - 21:03
The move to a corner was the best thing for Colby. He is very athletic, but due to his slugging tenancies he no longer profiles as a quick ground covering center fielder. Great move by the Cardnials.