This season didn’t go like most seasons. The Cardinals were terrible. I stopped writing here very much, with nothing after the blog anniversary. However, some things must go on and that includes the Exit Interview series! Now in its 12th year, it’s our look back at each player that made an appearance in a game for the St. Louis Cardinals. We’re approaching it a little different this season, a little more literary and a little less statistical, but hopefully you enjoy it just the same. As always, I am grateful that cardinalsgifs has agreed to use his talent for the header image!
Player: Michael Siani
Stats (Cardinals): 5 G, 5 PA, 1 SB, .000/.000/.000, -0.2 bWAR
Statcast (all): 0.0% barrel, 0.0% sweet spot, 98.7 max exit velocity, .116 wOBA, .258 xwOBA, 16.7% K, 16.7% BB
Grade: C
In my mind, the most notable thing about Siani was that he was called up at all. Instead of Moises Gomez, a power hitter that has seemingly little left to prove in Memphis, Siani was the one tabbed when the injuries hit enough at the end of the season. In fact, Siani was pulled from a game to head to St. Louis while Gomez took his place.
It seemed strange, especially since Siani was not a long-time Cardinal prospect getting a cup of coffee as a reward, i.e. Irving Lopez. He had been acquired from the Reds earlier in the year (the reason things are split out above is because he got one plate appearance, a walk, with Cincy in 2023). In fact, he was claimed off waivers at the beginning of September, so he had spent less than a month with the Cardinals. There’s no doubt that his ability to play center field played a role in his promotion, especially since almost every outfielder was on the injured list, but with just a week left in the season you’d have thought that the club might have wanted to see what they had in Gomez, especially since he was already on the 40-man and the season was well lost.
Siani seemed to be a clear candidate to be removed from the 40-man roster to make room for other acquisitions. Instead, the club seems to be intrigued by him. He is only 24 and won’t turn 25 until the All-Star Break next season. He did have a solid season at AA last year when he was a couple of years younger than the league, so perhaps there’s some potential there. If push came to shove, I’m sure the Cards would waive him to make room, but it seems like there are a few others they’d put in front of him (besides the ones they’ve already released, of course).
What’s in store for 2024: Siani seems ticketed to play center at Memphis next year and get a couple of chances during the season when injuries require some moves. He did have four hits with a short tour in Cincinnati in 2022 so he’s not searching for that milestone, but we’ll probably see him get his first knock as a Cardinal next season.
