Cardinals' Randal Grichuk: Adjusting to new role in left field

Grichuk, who is moving to left field in 2017 with the arrival of Dexter Fowler, is looking forward to his new position and the coming season in general, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "Last year, I tried to feel for the ball a little too much - trying to be a hitter that I'm not. This year, I'm going to let it fly and have some fun, like I did the last month or month-and-a-half of the year," said Grichuk, who had 12 of his 24 homers in August and September.

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Grichuk tallied a career-high 24 homers and 68 RBI in 2016, despite struggling with a left knee that ended up requiring cartilage repair surgery in November. However, the 25-year-old did concede that the knee bothered him "a good amount" throughout the campaign, which likely played a part in his .240 average and .289 OBP. Now fully healthy, Grichuk and the Cardinals feel his speed, strong throwing arm and previous experience playing left field will help him make a seamless transition to his new position. At the plate, Grichuk also will aim to make much more consistent contact, considering he's posted 31.4-and-29.5-percent strikeout rates, respectively, over his last two major league seasons.