{"id":144314,"date":"2026-01-23T12:49:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:49:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:49:39","slug":"cardinals-are-quietly-hunting-a-right-handed-monster-who-devastates-lefties-the-fix-their-lefty-heavy-lineup-has-been-begging-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

IMAGE: Cincinnati Reds outfielder Austin Hays (12) prepares on deck in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park. \/ Katie Stratman \/ Imagn Images<\/div>\n

Chaim Bloom has been busy reshaping the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason, and while he\u2019s checked off a number of boxes on his to-do list, there\u2019s still one piece that could round out the roster: a right-handed hitting outfielder.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been a clear priority for Bloom, who\u2019s looking to balance out a lineup that leans heavily to the left side. And now, a familiar name is surfacing as a potential fit – Austin Hays.<\/p>\n

\"Cardinals<\/p>\n

According to recent reports, the Cardinals are among several teams showing interest in Hays, a righty bat with a proven track record of punishing left-handed pitching. It\u2019s not the first time his name has been linked to St. Louis this offseason, and the fit makes a lot of sense when you dig into the numbers.<\/p>\n

Hays, now 30, brings eight seasons of big-league experience and has carved out a niche as a platoon outfielder. His splits are stark – he\u2019s struggled against right-handed pitching throughout his career (posting a 97 wRC+ overall, and just 88 wRC+ in 2025), but he\u2019s been a menace against lefties. In 807 career plate appearances vs. southpaws, he owns a 124 wRC+, and his 2025 campaign was particularly impressive: a .319\/.400\/.549 slash line and a 155 wRC+ against left-handed pitching.<\/p>\n

That kind of production doesn\u2019t just play – it thrives<\/em> in the right role. And for the Cardinals, that role could be coming off the bench or starting in the outfield when a lefty is on the mound. With Ivan Herrera currently standing as the team\u2019s only real right-handed threat, adding Hays would give the lineup a much-needed jolt of balance and situational power.<\/p>\n

Defensively, Hays holds his own in the corner outfield spots. He\u2019s not a Gold Glover, but he\u2019s more than serviceable, and his bat is the real draw here.<\/p>\n

If St. Louis were to bring him in, it wouldn\u2019t be to play 140 games – it would be to maximize his impact in high-leverage spots where his skill set shines.<\/p>\n

Think late-inning pinch-hit appearances, spot starts against tough lefties, and a veteran presence who knows how to handle big-league pitching.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Cardinals aren\u2019t the only team in the mix. There are other right-handed outfielders on the market, and Hays may be weighing opportunities that offer more playing time or a clearer path to contention.<\/p>\n

St. Louis, as it stands, likely wouldn\u2019t offer him an everyday role – and they\u2019re not entering 2026 as a top-tier contender.<\/p>\n

That could factor into his decision.<\/p>\n

Still, from a roster-building standpoint, the interest makes sense. Bloom has been methodical in addressing the team\u2019s needs this winter, and a player like Hays checks a very specific box. If the Cardinals can make the fit work – both in terms of role and expectations – it could be a savvy move that pays off in matchups where the margins matter most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IMAGE: Cincinnati Reds outfielder Austin Hays (12) prepares on deck in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park. \/ Katie Stratman \/… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nCardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IMAGE: Cincinnati Reds outfielder Austin Hays (12) prepares on deck in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park. \/ Katie Stratman \/...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-23T12:49:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314\",\"name\":\"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-23T12:49:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-23T12:49:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06\",\"name\":\"XuanTan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"XuanTan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For - NEWS USA","og_description":"IMAGE: Cincinnati Reds outfielder Austin Hays (12) prepares on deck in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park. \/ Katie Stratman \/...","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2026-01-23T12:49:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"XuanTan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"XuanTan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314","name":"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-23T12:49:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-23T12:49:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rinrin-13-4.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=144314#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cardinals Are Quietly Hunting a Right-Handed Monster Who Devastates Lefties \u2013 The Fix Their Lefty-Heavy Lineup Has Been Begging For"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06","name":"XuanTan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"XuanTan"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144316,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144314\/revisions\/144316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/144315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}