Cardinals' Stephen Piscotty: Could be moved down in batting order to start season

Piscotty, who is hitting just .143 this spring, could open the season further down in the batting order than originally projected, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. "It depends on how confident he feels when we break camp," manager Mike Matheny said of Piscotty's lineup fit. "[For] every one of those guys, [it's] the same thing. How does each guy feel? Is this particular person in a good spot? That will help dictate what it looks like as we help put the lineup together."

Analysis:

Piscotty was originally slated to hit cleanup, but Matheny may opt to slide him a couple of spots to open the season with the intention of taking some pressure off the struggling outfielder. The 26-year-old enjoyed a breakout 2016 in which he slashed .273/.343/.457 with 35 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs and 85 RBI; however, he's only mustered two extra-base hits, both doubles, in 56 spring plate appearances. Piscotty has partially attributed his struggles to tough luck -- commenting that he feels his well-hit balls have been caught "at an abnormally high rate" -- while also noting that he's been working on tweaks to his swing throughout the exhibition slate in an effort to generate more power. "It's working, but it's kind of throwing off my contact point a little bit, so I have to readjust that," Piscotty said. "I kind of figured it could be a bumpy road, but I feel good where I'm headed. I can feel it really in BP and in the cage. It's starting to show up in the game."