Grichuk's Option "Outside the Box"

(Busch Stadium) The scene in the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse was rather telling as Jose Martinez was back from his rehab assignment and listed as hitting 8th in today’s lineup. Meanwhile, a packed bag of equipment lay at the floor in front of Randal Grichuk’s locker.

“We optioned Randal Grichuk to Palm Beach (A),” confirmed General Manager John Mozeliak. “Over the last week or so, he’s really been struggling at the plate. We just wanted to give him an opportunity a) to take a deep breath, allow work on some stuff down in Jupiter under a little bit less stress.”

On the season, Grichuk is batting .222 with 4 home runs and 19 RBIs in 46 games for the Cardinals. His 14 doubles are tied for best on the team, but Randal also leads the team with 54 strikeouts.

“Clearly, when you’re looking at strike zone management and the ability to put himself in a more advantage in counts is what we’re hoping to see,” continued Mozeliak. “I know all of us who’ve gotten to see him over the years know he’s got that type of power–a game-changing type swing. But right now, it’s just not working and so we have to do something different.”

That something different is sending Grichuk to Palm Beach, rather than to Memphis (AAA) to work on things.

“We’ve all seen him hit there,” explained Mozeliak. “My feeling is you’ve always heard me say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different outcome–this is no different,” explained Mozeliak. “I really felt like we had to do something different here. A little bit outside of the box. He’ll work with George Greer for a week or so and see how things go.”

Drafted by St. Louis in 1968, Greer was a long-time coach at Wake Forest and then worked in the Mets organization before he was hired by the Cardinals in 2014. His current title is Minor League Offensive Strategist.

“I think everybody’s different,” answered Mozeliak as to how much a different voice delivering the message could help Grichuk. “Imagine yourself as a teacher and you have 25 different students and some hear what you’re saying and some don’t. I don’t think this is a case of Randal not understanding or accepting what’s being told, I just think he’s in a spot where at the Major League level, pressures are high. Making adjustments or making adjustments under pressure can sometimes be difficult. Sometimes just being able to hit the pause button, you can benefit from.”

In June of last year, Grichuk was optioned to Memphis. Upon return, he hit .269 with 16 HRs and 41 RBIs in 70 games to finish the season.

“When you look at him from just a pure talent standpoint, you see why people are so excited about him,” said Mozeliak. “But as I’ve always said, this is a results business industry and right now, he’s just not getting it done.”

“Again, I’m not looking at the Palm Beach factor,” Mozeliak reiterated. “I’m just looking at a place where he can a lot of extra work in. As you know, that’s our HQ. As far as getting on the back fields, he’ll have full exposure to that and hopefully just getting into a different routine there and a lot less pressure.”

photo credit: Bill Greenblatt/UPI, Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports