Exit Interview 2017: John Gant

For the sixth straight year, we’re taking a look back at everyone that played for the St. Louis Cardinals this season.  Whether they were a major contributor or a bit player, here all year or for just a little while, we’ll look at their season and talk about what went right and what went wrong.  The stat line listed is just their time in St. Louis, though splits and other numbers in the discussion may be for the entire year.  Imagine this as them stopping by Mike Matheny‘s office for a little review on their way home for the winter.  As always when you see incredible artistry in the blogs, all credit for the header work goes to @cardinalsgifs.

Player: John Gant

Season stats: 0-1, 4.67 ERA, 7 games, 17.1 IP, 17 H, 10 BB, 11 K, 1.558 WHIP, 6.79 FIP, 0.1 bWAR

Hero/Goat: None

Overall grade: C

Positives: Had a five inning scoreless streak to start September….batters hit .242 against him on the road….limited hitters to a .206/.308/.500 line as a reliever, though three home runs came in those situations….batters hit .200 with two strikes….had a .231 BAA with runners in scoring position….that dropped to .167 when there were two outs….had the second-highest inning total at Memphis, making 18 starts….had roughly a 4.00 K/BB ratio in the minors.

Negatives: Gave up two runs in two of his five relief appearances….had two starts but only got into the fifth in one of them….walked more lefties (6) than he struck out (5)….batters hit .333 against him when he was a starter….had a 1.000 OPS against him on the first pitch….batters had a 1.337 OPS when they were ahead….was nicked at a .346 average when nobody was out….only had nine high leverage plate appearances but batters hit .625 with a 1.306 OPS then…had a 3.83 ERA at Memphis.

Overview: Acquired in the Jaime Garcia trade last December, Gant was acquired to basically be pitching insurance and he delivered on that.  He had a solid season at Memphis and was available if openings happened in the big league roster.  He’s never going to be a huge prospect, he’s never going to be a guy you really want to have in your rotation for a long period of time, but he can fill a temporary hole.  As noted, he was a huge part of Memphis’s rotation and they went off and won 97 games, so that has to mean something.

Outlook: As far as I know, Gant has another option year and as such probably will have a similar 2018 as he did in 2017, spending a lot of time in Memphis and waiting to fill a void.  He might fit into the ’18 bullpen depending on what moves are made, but probably will spend much more time eating BBQ and listening to blues music.

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