Both of the top two center fielders on the Cardinals’ depth chart underwent surgery this offseason, and while Peter Bourjos is e almost ready for game action, Jon Jay is not expected to be ready for the start of Grapefruit League action Thursday and is more focused on being ready for the start of the regular season.
Jay, who signed a 2-year, $10.975 million deal with the club back in early February, is coming off wrist surgery, and will not be ready when the team begins their exhibition schedule against the Marlins later this week, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Jay has been making progress on his rehab program over the last week or so, and Goold provides the details:
Jay continued making progress Sunday on his rehab program by hitting off coach-pitch batting practice in the covered batting cages. He has been hitting with increased effort for the past week. The Cardinals plan for him to advance from cage work to possibly batting practice against pitchers and then into games, though Jay said once he feels comfortable in the cage the rest can happen quickly.
Jay’s goal is to be ready for opening night in Chicago on April 5, and he told Goold that the 40 at-bats he believes it will take to get ready come fit into the final two weeks of Spring Training, if needed:
“We’re working to where I get 100 percent comfortable and then go from there,” said Jay, who had a frayed ligament in his left wrist repaired in October. “I’m a cage guy. Once I feel good about my swing in the cage, I can take it anywhere. I want to get right inside.”
Jay, who will turn 30 in later this month, spent most of 2014 as the team’s regular center fielder and hit .303/.372/.3.78 with 3 home runs and 46 RBIs over 140 games while playing on a 1-year, $3.25 million contract. The five year veteran, who was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2006 draft, played much of the second half of the 2014 season with a wrist injury before the aforementioned wrist surgery. Jay’s defense drastically improved in 2014, as he went from -10 defensive runs saved to +3 this past season, and his WAR (Wins Above Replacement) value doubled from 1.4 to 2.8 between the past two seasons. Jay is expected to be a lock for the starting job in center field in 2015 after competing with newcomer Peter Bourjos for the role last spring.
Bourjos, who agreed to a one-year, $1.65 million deal with the club to avoid arbitration back in January, is coming off surgery to address a hip impingement. Although it didn’t affect him too much in the field, the injury caused a decrease in hip flexibility, which he opened his hips early to compensate for, leaving him susceptible to inside pitches. From Goold:
“I think my first move would always be to open up, trying to clear (the hip) instead of staying closed and driving this thing into the front side,” Bourjos said. “I think right now I feel like I’m in a better position to hit more pitches. In the fast few years, I’ve been trying to work around my hip. I didn’t really know it, but I didn’t have that same range of motion. I couldn’t keep that consistent path to the baseball. Now I’m able to repeat my swing so it’s coming through like I should.”
Bourjos seems to be almost completely recovered from his surgery and should have little to no restrictions headed into Spring Training action. The 27-year-old hit .231 with 4 home runs and 24 RBIs while appearing in 119 games. With Jason Heyward acquired to play right field and Jon Jay looking like the starter in center, Bourjos appears set to serve as the team’s fourth outfielder and center field defensive replacement late in games.
Read more from Jay and Bourjos as well as Mike Matheny’s comments from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Feature image used under Creative Commons from Keith Allison. No changes made. Image license.
