Acquired in the Stephen Piscotty deal this offseason, Yairo Muñoz put himself in the forefront of Cardinals fans’ minds when he lit up spring training. With a .323/.364/.516 slash line through 23 games Muñoz became the 2018 José Martínez, unable to be denied a spot on the active roster headed into Opening Day in New York. What followed was a rough adjustment period to begin his Major League career.
The start of the season was terrible for Muñoz, as he went two-for-18 with 11 strikeouts in 20 plate appearances. Coupled with a few key defensive errors, Muñoz’s abysmal start led to a demotion to Memphis, as he clearly didn’t seem ready to handle big league pitching.