Baseball was not kind to Dexter Fowler in 2018.
His struggles are well documented.
A .180 average, .278 OBP and .298 SLG resulted in Fowler finishing as one of the worst statistical players in baseball last season.
In fact, of the 355 players with 200 plate appearances, Fowler slotted into the 352nd spot with a -1.2 WAR.
In 2019 Fowler is out to prove he's back to his 2017 form, where in his first year as a Cardinal, he had career highs in home runs, RBI's and slugging percentage.
We sat down with Fowler at Cardinals spring training in Jupiter, Florida, to talk about his disastrous 2018, the faith the organization has shown in him and what really matters most to him.
As management has made clear, right field will be Fowler's to start the season.
Whether it remains his all year is an entirely different story, and it might be completely out of his control.
Tyler O'Neill and his prodigious power are knocking, and they are rapidly reaching the point they can't be ignored.
Jose Martinez can no longer count on playing time at first base after the arrival of Paul Goldschmidt, so right field will also be calling his name.
A good start for Fowler is imperative in 2019.
If he has a few rough weeks to start the season, fans will waste no time in clamoring for O'Neill or Martinez to step up in a starting role.
Fowler noted in our interview with him just how fast people forget, though.
"Everybody looks at me like I've been always bad," Fowler laughed. "That .851 (OPS in 2017), that's pretty good. A lot of people forget about that, and I don't know what that is, but I'm excited to get back to that. That's the type of player I think I am."