The St. Louis Cardinals lost Jason Heyward in free agency, but are hoping they'll still get strong production in the outfield thanks to their confidence in Stephen Piscotty.

"You look at his progression through the Minor Leagues, and it was a perfect trend," general manager John Mozeliak said. "It was always getting better. There is a level of confidence that he's the right guy to make the bet on."

St. Louis will also give Randal Grichuk a chance after opting not to court Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes or Alex Gordon after Heyward joined the Chicago Cubs.

"Stephen is a phenomenal talent, and one of those guys we see so much potential for," manager Mike Matheny said. "We talk about how this kid can make quick adjustments. This kid figures it out on the fly. There is a mental side that Stephen brings, and we'd like all the other kids in the system to figure that out as well. He's the kind of kid we're convinced there is even a higher upside than what we've seen already."