The St. Louis Cardinals offense has become a bit of a laughing stock this year. It seemed for quite a while that the team was simply incapable of a blowout victory. In the games where the Cards managed to be the winning team, it seemed like it was always by just a run. Since arriving in American League parks, things have changed. Please note that I said “changed”, not “turned the corner”. There is obviously a big difference.
Here’s how the batters stack up for 2014 as of Wednesday:
| Rk | Pos | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1B | Matt Adams* | 202 | 194 | 16 | 63 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 5 | 40 | .325 | .337 | .474 | .811 |
| 2 | 3B | Matt Carpenter* | 300 | 258 | 42 | 76 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 36 | 50 | .295 | .385 | .388 | .772 |
| 3 | CF | Jon Jay* | 155 | 140 | 15 | 41 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 10 | 27 | .293 | .346 | .379 | .725 |
| 4 | C | Yadier Molina | 243 | 221 | 22 | 64 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 16 | 29 | .290 | .339 | .412 | .751 |
| 5 | LF | Matt Holliday | 279 | 234 | 32 | 62 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 30 | 37 | 41 | .265 | .380 | .380 | .760 |
| 6 | 2B | Kolten Wong* | 149 | 136 | 13 | 34 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 16 | .250 | .311 | .324 | .634 |
| 7 | RF | Allen Craig | 271 | 249 | 28 | 62 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 33 | 18 | 48 | .249 | .306 | .373 | .680 |
| 8 | SS | Jhonny Peralta | 254 | 228 | 26 | 53 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 26 | 23 | 48 | .232 | .307 | .434 | .741 |
| 9 | CF | Peter Bourjos | 147 | 132 | 15 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 44 | .220 | .288 | .348 | .636 |
| Team Totals | 2497 | 2228 | 244 | 558 | 120 | 10 | 36 | 230 | 202 | 474 | .250 | .319 | .362 | .681 | ||
| Rank in 15 NL teams | 3 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 10 | ||||
| Non-Pitcher Totals | 2359 | 2109 | 234 | 541 | 114 | 10 | 36 | 223 | 196 | 418 | .257 | .325 | .371 | .697 | ||
| Pitcher Totals | 138 | 119 | 10 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 56 | .143 | .197 | .193 | .390 |
If you really study that, it doesn’t seem like this should be a team struggling this badly. The problem, of course, is stringing those hits together. Alternatively, the team could hit home runs, but that option appears to be off the table. Jhonny Peralta has to be the most frustrating and unexpected part of this roster. .232 is is only marginally better than last time I wrote about him.
Outside of Jhonny, and his streaky success, there are signs of life. Not including Matt Adams (on the DL at the time of writing), the team’s best hitter on the season is Matt Carpenter. Certainly, Matt is having good success this year. A lot of it has come recently:
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 5 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .150 | .261 | .300 | .561 |
| Last 14 days | 12 | 45 | 6 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | .378 | .462 | .533 | .995 |
| Last 28 days | 25 | 102 | 15 | 36 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 14 | .353 | .426 | .500 | .926 |
| Last 365days | 161 | 639 | 117 | 195 | 52 | 7 | 8 | 77 | 4 | 2 | 79 | 115 | .305 | .383 | .446 | .829 |
This week hasn’t been quite as kind, but to say 2014 is a continuation of 2013 isn’t that far off the mark.
Jon Jay is also having a great season with his .293 average despite half the AB of a full time player due to a time sharing arrangement with Peter Bourjos.
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 4 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Last 14 days | 10 | 29 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .345 | .387 | .379 | .766 |
| Last 28 days | 21 | 56 | 7 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 13 | .321 | .350 | .375 | .725 |
| Last 365days | 150 | 465 | 53 | 136 | 26 | 2 | 4 | 55 | 10 | 5 | 39 | 88 | .292 | .359 | .383 | .742 |
To say Jay’s bat is beginning to show signs of life isn’t really fair. It’s been there for a while.
One disappointment in the second month of the season was the bat of Yadier Molina. His bat may be starting to return, as well.
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 4 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .143 | .250 | .143 | .393 |
| Last 14 days | 10 | 35 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | .114 | .205 | .114 | .319 |
| Last 28 days | 22 | 78 | 7 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 9 | .256 | .341 | .346 | .687 |
| Last 365days | 133 | 498 | 62 | 144 | 36 | 0 | 13 | 71 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 61 | .289 | .333 | .440 | .773 |
Matt Holliday has had some flashes of brilliance in an otherwise down year. While he is doing nothing that approaches his average of the past couple years, he is at least back above the Mendoza line:
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 4 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .250 | .471 | .667 | 1.137 |
| Last 14 days | 11 | 34 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 6 | .176 | .391 | .324 | .715 |
| Last 28 days | 24 | 84 | 14 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 13 | .262 | .410 | .405 | .814 |
| Last 365days | 145 | 529 | 87 | 157 | 35 | 0 | 16 | 86 | 7 | 2 | 77 | 89 | .297 | .397 | .454 | .851 |
That’s progress, right? OK, I won’t be too upset if you don’t get excited.
I’d like to say Kolten Wong is getting in on the action. I’d be lying. He’s struggled massively in the past couple weeks, but you can give his brief shoulder problem the blame, if you must.
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Last 14 days | 8 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .087 | .192 | .217 | .410 |
| Last 28 days | 18 | 65 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 7 | .277 | .347 | .385 | .732 |
| Last 365days | 70 | 195 | 19 | 43 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 28 | .221 | .276 | .277 | .553 |
At least we can take heart that he had hit .277 over his past 28 days. He’s likely do it again, but now isn’t that time.
Hey hey! Look who may actually be starting to figure out where his bat is located in the clubhouse. If you guessed Allen Craig – ding ding, you win!
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 5 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .286 | .286 | .333 | .619 |
| Last 14 days | 12 | 48 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .250 | .294 | .375 | .669 |
| Last 28 days | 25 | 100 | 13 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 16 | .290 | .349 | .390 | .739 |
| Last 365days | 136 | 514 | 66 | 146 | 24 | 1 | 14 | 83 | 2 | 1 | 45 | 107 | .284 | .350 | .416 | .766 |
Pretty impressive. Granted, he has a lot of ground to make up to get back where he should be after an abysmal start, but this is real progress.
The aforementioned Jhonny Peralta has had a pretty rough season. In the spirit of small sample size theater, he’s having a decent week:
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 5 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .278 | .350 | .556 | .906 |
| Last 14 days | 12 | 44 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | .205 | .239 | .386 | .625 |
| Last 28 days | 25 | 88 | 7 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 21 | .205 | .253 | .364 | .616 |
| Last 365days | 112 | 412 | 45 | 102 | 30 | 0 | 15 | 55 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 93 | .248 | .316 | .430 | .746 |
Let’s just hope next time I write about Peralta, his average is up more the .030.
The last bat worth mentioning is Peter Bourjos. What can I say? Peter was hired for his defense, and it really shows in his batting. But even Peter has shown some minimal life signs the last week. He still needs to be on life support, though.
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | 4 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | .333 | .357 | .500 | .857 |
| Last 14 days | 9 | 27 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | .259 | .300 | .444 | .744 |
| Last 28 days | 18 | 56 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18 | .214 | .274 | .321 | .596 |
| Last 365days | 79 | 217 | 29 | 49 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 67 | .226 | .293 | .332 | .625 |
You’ve got to like that trend. Let’s hope he can keep it up. Frankly, once the team returns to National League parks, it’s going to take a very convincing sermon to get Jay out of the lineup – especially against a right-handed pitcher.
So there we have it. There are some encouraging developments in Cardinals Nation. If these trends continue, the Cards may approach the power observers thought this team may have in 2014.
