I’m not here to talk about the tough finish to the Arizona series or division clinching scenarios.
Not today.
As a bit of a distraction on the final off-day of the regular season, I decided to peruse the statistics of the 2019 Cardinals and look for interesting numbers. My goal was to find any milestones, more general round number benchmarks, or moves on various leaderboards that could be attained over the final weekend. A few extra things to watch for as the Cardinals attempt to wrap up the NL Central against the Small Bears.
There aren’t many true “milestones” at hand, so this post will focus mostly on the round number, benchmark variety (i.e. 20 wins, 30 HRs, etc.) and varying historical and career significance of those numbers.
Individual Pitching
Miles Mikolas:
This one is a stretch, but if Mikolas can churn out at least 7.2 shutout innings in his final start on Saturday, his season ERA will drop below 4.00.
Miles should match his 2018 strikeout total of 146, as he needs just 2 more to tie it. Three strikeouts on Saturday establishes a new career high.
Adam Wainwright:
Wainwright requires far less work to keep his season ERA under 4.00, as it currently sits at 3.98. He simply needs one of the following ER/IP combos or better: 1/4, 2/5, 2/6, 3/7, 3/8, or 4/9.
Wainwright could also reach the round number of 15 Wins on the season with a favorable decision in his final start. With Hudson already exceeding that total, it would mark the first time since 2014 (Wainwright/Lynn) that the Cardinals have had multiple 15-game winners in the rotation.
It is already the first time since 2015 (Wacha/Martinez) that more than 1 has reached 14 wins.
Finally, with Wainwright, that 15th victory would push him to 163 in his career. That total would match Bob Forsch for 3rd on the franchise’s all-time list.
Giovanny Gallegos:
Highly unlikely, but it’s a least possible that Gallegos could reach 100 strikeouts for the season. He would need 7 this weekend. He would be just the 5th Cardinals reliever to ever amass 100 K’s in a single season.
John Brebbia:
Not nearly as much of a stretch as Gallegos, Brebbia sits at 87 K’s, needing just 3 more this weekend to become only the 10th Cardinals reliever to ever reach 90 in a single season. Talk about doing it quietly.
Should Brebbia reach 90 K’s, this would be the first time in franchise history that 2 relievers have had 90+ strikeouts.
This tandem’s current combined total of 180 strikeouts is the highest single-season total for a relief duo in Cardinals history.
Individual Hitting
Paul Goldschmidt:
Paul needs a big series, including 5 RBI to reach 100 for the season. Should he do so, he would be the first Cardinals player with 100 RBI since Matt Holliday in 2012. Been a minute.
DeJong/Ozuna:
Both Paul and Marcell are sitting on 29 HR’s for the year. If one of the two can clear the fence this weekend, it would be the first time the Cardinals have had multiple 30 HR hitters since Pujols and Berkman did it in 2011.
If both sluggers can go yard, it would be the first time the team has had 3 30 HR hitters since the MV3 did so in 2004.
Dexter Fowler:
Dexter needs 1 HR to reach 19 for the year and to establish a new career high. The feat would be a nice feather in the cap of a solid rebound season.
Matt Carpenter:
Matt is 2 doubles shy of tying HOF Frankie Frisch’s 286 for 13th on the franchise’s all-time list. He is 7 Total Bases behind HOF Johnny Mize and 21st on the franchise list.
Yadier Molina:
Molina’s next HR will be number 157 for his career, which will break a tie with Matt Holliday and put him in sole possession of 11th place on the Cardinals all-time list.
Team Stats
Homeruns:
The next HR hit by a Cardinals will push the team total to 205 for the year, matching the 2018 as the 5th most in franchise history.
Strikeouts:
Cardinals pitchers have already tallied the most combined strikeouts in franchise history. The next reliever to record a K will push the Cardinals to 600 relief strikeouts for the first time in franchise history.
Errors:
A year after leading the majors with 133 errors, the Cardinals head into the final 3 games with just 66. That leads MLB this season, currently 4 better than the Astros’ 70.
If they hold the lead over Houston, they will be the first team to ever move from worst to first, in errors, in consecutive seasons.
The 66 errors are currently the 8th lowest in the history of baseball, and the lowest ever by a Cardinals team. The next lowest for the Cardinals is 75 by the 2013 NL Champions.
Not much big stuff here, but a few interesting things to note and keep an eye on.
Thanks for reading.