No need for the St. Louis Cardinals to rush top prospect Dylan Carlson to the majors

I’m as excited about St. Louis Cardinals prospect Dylan Carlson as anybody.

But I really hope the team does what’s best for the player as opposed to compromising one of its best prospects to get it out of a roster jam.

It looks like the Cardinals are planning to cut costs by saying goodbye to left fielder and cleanup hitter Marcell Ozuna, replacing him with one of their young outfield prospects. They’re probably going to tell us they don’t want to block Carlson who they’ll determine is on the brink of imminent major league stardom,

Carlson should come up to the big leagues when he’s ready, not when he’s needed, whether it’s to balance the budget or fill in for an injured veteran player. The Cardinals have had a problem in recent years converting their top prospects into productive major league players.

Kolten Wong seemed like he was in over his head and took years to finally settle in at the big league level. The jury is still out on Alex Reyes, who has been the top pitching prospect for years. Tyler O’Neill somehow has slipped from the radar as a player the Cardinals would count on in 2020 to a guy that doesn’t get mentioned much anymore.

Michael Wacha looked like a world beater when he showed up on the scene. But was he used too much too soon to cause the shoulder problems that have derailed his progress? What about Carlos Martinez who can’t seem to turn the corner from being a good player to a star despite his immense talent?

I’m not saying all the St. Louis prospects have been misses. Paul DeJong has panned out pretty well. Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson look promising.

But those players were afforded the opportunity to grow on their own schedule. That’s the difference. Those who have flamed out were asked to carry too much of the load too quickly.

Don’t turn Dylan Carlson into Rick Ankiel

I’m not a big fan of counting on first year players to be vital contributors.

How can a team project the input they expect from someone in a situation that person has never been in before? For some guys, playing ball is playing ball. It doesn’t matter if they’re in the Carolina League or the majors — if the ball is over the plate, they’re going to hit it.

Others dominate at Class AAA only to fall short in taking that last step to the big leagues. It usually works better to let players stick a toe in the water and see how they acclimate as opposed to throwing them in to see if they can swing. Sometimes making adjustments can take time. Destroying a player’s confidence can be a life-long mistake.

Look at what happened to Rick Ankiel. When the pressure got to high, he lost his ability to even do the basics and his career as a pitcher was completely ruined.

Maybe Carlson will set the world on fire during spring training and never look back. Maybe he’s a natural who will never struggle.

But the Cardinals can’t count on him to be the next Albert Pujols, making his name stick in the starting lineup immediately after arriving for the first time at the gates of Busch Stadium. But even Hall of Fame players like Bob Gibson and Lou Brock had some growing pains before they established themselves as big leaguers.

You can’t just keep throwing a kid to the wolves because you’re worried about the game today. St. Louis needs to make sure its young players are as prepared as possible before they depend on them to be difference makers, even if they have to spend a few bucks on veteran players to fill the gap.

This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 9:02 AM.

Scott Wuerz

Belleville News-Democrat

Scott Wuerz has written “Cheap Seats,” a St. Louis Cardinals fan blog for the Belleville News-Democrat, since 2007. He is a former BND reporter who covered breaking news and education.