How Siani has been one of Cardinals' MVPs

This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- If you had center fielder Michael Siani on your “Cardinals' Most Valuable Players” bingo card for 2024, then you likely should invest in the purchase of a few lottery tickets for the next Powerball drawing or immediately start your career as a fortune teller.

Not even the Cardinals thought they would get this much value out of the daring center fielder who has a highlight reel of improbable catches already this season.

Siani, who turned 25 years old on Tuesday and celebrated with his baseball-playing brothers and baseball-loving parents at the Jersey Shore, wasn’t exactly the Cardinals' first choice to play center field. Heck, he wasn’t even the team’s second, third or fourth choice. In fact, the likely only reason that Siani has gotten an extended run with the Cards -- instead of at Triple-A Memphis -- is because of Spring Training injuries to Tommy Edman (offseason right wrist surgery), Dylan Carlson (left AC joint sprain) and Lars Nootbaar (broken ribs), and early struggles by rookie speedster Victor Scott II (St. Louis' No. 3 prospect).

Penicillin, microwave ovens, X-rays, Teflon and Corn Flakes are some of the world’s greatest accidental discoveries. Siani -- statistically the best defensive outfielder in the Majors this season -- would certainly qualify as that for the Cardinals. Give him credit, however, for being ready and taking full advantage when an opportunity presented itself.

“Injuries happen, stuff happens, and you have to be ready for whatever comes,” said Siani, who is tied for second in the Majors -- and ranks first among all outfielders -- in Outs Above Average (plus-13), a statistic that measures a player’s defensive impact on games. “The key is not putting too much pressure on yourself and knowing that you prepared yourself to do what you can do.”

What Siani has done is dazzle with catches that often looked impossible, and he’s made even the tough catches seem almost routine. In the Cardinals' 6-2 win over the Braves on Sunday, Siani took a sure hit away from Atlanta star third baseman Austin Riley with a catch that was part sliding and part diving. Among all outfielders, Siani is tied for first with Toronto's Daulton Varsho and Seattle's Julio Rodríguez with four 5-star catches (0-25 percent catch probability). Siani is tied for 10th in 4-star catches (25-50 percent catch probability) with six.

The circus catches have made the mild-mannered Siani one of the most popular players in the Cardinals' clubhouse, especially among a pitching staff that has benefitted greatly from the speedster’s defensive brilliance.

“I’ve got to pick up something for him, or maybe he’ll thank me for getting him all of the plays that will maybe win him that Gold Glove,” Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas said. “He’s been so incredible. Any time a ball goes up in the air out there, I’m thinking it’s an out -- even if it’s a blooper or a good piece of it.”

With Edman, Nootbaar and Carlson down in Spring Training, Siani was afforded the opportunity to play, and he caught the eye of manager Oliver Marmol, who noticed that the cat-quick center fielder rarely got a poor jump or took a bad route. Did Marmol think Siani could basically stabilize the team’s defense in the outfield and, in some ways, save the Cardinals' season? Heck, he still can’t figure out how Siani makes some of the catches that he does.

“He’s incredibly good out there,” Marmol marveled. “It always amazes me that with that low line drive, he can get underneath it. It’s a base hit off the bat, a routine single, and then somehow, he floats underneath it. You get used to seeing it. He picks up [hits] that are not. It’s like counterfeit money.”

Siani has registered 162 putouts, and he has one outfield assist without committing an error. However, being forced to make so many diving catches has taken a toll on Siani’s 6-foot-1, 195-pound body. His most painful moment came on June 22, when he robbed San Francisco’s Thairo Estrada of a hit on a liner. Statcast gave Siani just a 10 percent chance of making the catch, and he bruised his ribs while hauling it in.

Siani's favorite catch, however, was one where the degree of difficulty wasn’t nearly as high, but it helped the Cardinals wrap up a Sunday night victory over the rival Cubs. On May 26, Siani covered 76 feet to run down a Seiya Suzuki drive into the right-center gap -- a catch he punctuated with a joyous fist pump.

“It wasn’t, like, a diving play or anything like that,” said Siani, who has hit .235 with two homers, 14 RBIs, 13 stolen bases and nine sacrifice bunts in 90 games. “That one sticks with me because there was a guy on base, and if that ball gets down, it’s probably a tie game. That one was big because we won the game.”