ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The metamorphosis of the St. Louis Cardinals (potential) future superstar Dylan Carlson is something that will be a major topic of conversation all season long. Let's get it started after the first weekend of games in the 2021 season...
Writer for The Athletic, Keith Law, joined KMOX on Friday after the Cardinals 11-6 Opening Day win, which included a three-run home run by the 22-year-old outfielder. And he dove into where he thinks Carlson could best fit in this year's lineup, after being asked why he's hitting seventh when he could be hitting right before or after Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschimdt?
"I understand that logic, but I'm OK with (the Cardinals) starting slow," Law explains. "He was not great in his first go-around last year. He was great after the recall. But it was a small sample. Be conservative, there's plenty of time in the season to move him up in the lineup as he shows he can get on base at that kind of clip. He could be their leadoff guy later in the year. That might actually be the best role for him, as we wait for him to fill out physically."
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Law ranked Carlson as the No. 9 prospect in all of baseball coming into this season – No. 1 in the Cardinals organization. He described the switch-hitter as, "a strong OBP guy who eventually gets to 25 homers a year along with that strong defense, and he has star-level upside that depends mostly on where his hit tool ends up."
Carlson is on the watch list for NL Rookie of the Year, after he ended the 2020 season with a .278 average, including seven hits for extra bases and a .936 OPS, in the final 12 games of the season.
"I think he's going to get on base at a pretty good clip, maybe a 15 to 20 homers this year, even though I think eventually he can get up to 25-plus but just given his age and where he is physically, I would be a little on the conservative side there," Law says.
Listen to the full conversation with Law, here:
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