Since tonight's game was a real snoozer, I decided to sort through MLB.com stats to see how our starters are stacking up to their peers.   More specifically, I am looking at where our regulars rank amongst all NL hitters (100 AB's or more) at their position in OBP and SLG. 

Here's where they stand...

                              OBP                               SLG

Molina            7th of 14 catchers             8th of 14

Pujols             1st of 17                             2nd of 17

Kennedy         14th of 17                          17th of 17

Miles               8th of 17                            11th of 17

Glaus             3rd of 15                             13th of 15

Izturis              9th of 16                             14th of 16

Ludwick         3rd of 51                             1st of 51

Ankiel             13th of 51                            14th of 51

Duncan          15th of 51                            32nd of 51

Schumaker    18th of 51                            34th of 51

The only people in the bottom half in OBP are Kennedy and Izturis.  The only people in the top half in SLG are Pujols, Ludwick, and Ankiel.   Those 2 items may not be particularly earthshattering to many, but it is pretty telling.   Personally, I walk away with two main impressions.

First one is that the middle infield, to the surprise of few, severely limits the potential of this team.  Kennedy, in particular, continues to be a real drag on the offense.   When you put the first third of his season in context with last season, it looks very likely that what we see is what we get there.  Izturis provides solid defensive support to a pitching staff that very much requires it, but is still a fairly significant offensive liability.  In my opinion, we have received so far is probably pretty close to the best Izturis has to offer.   It's a fair item to debate, and CardsWin and others might disagree, but that is just my opinion.  And Miles, to his credit, continues to max out on his abilities by performing at something approaching an average performance at second.  I've personally banged that drum enough - his alleged versatility is an illusion, he hits for about as soft an average as anyone, etc...  In all fairness, he ends up being the best second baseman we have time after time.  It's to his credit really, though I am always reluctant to give it.  The point really is that if Aaron Miles is your most productive bat in the middle infield, you have a problem there, but maybe that shouldn't be held against Miles. 

On the flip side, the outfield has been a big part of our success thus far.  I'd place it 2nd in importance, right behind starting pitching, to the W-L record.   All four outfielders with 100 AB's or more are well within the top half in OBP.   Considering none of them cost much in terms of dollars, this unit has been a tremendous value.    Duncan has not performed as expected in terms of power (SLG), but outside of that I do not think any of this group has disappointed at all.   Sometimes I sense that people sell the bottom end of this unit (Duncan, Schumaker, Barton) a little short. 

I understand there are limitations with these guys.  I agree Ludwick needs to start every day right now.   I share the desire to find a taker for one of them so we can turn our surplus here into a middle infielder.   I am curious what Joe Mather would do with an opportunity too.  

Agree on all those points, but I don't understand how sometimes all this morphs into the vitriol and disgust that some hold against Duncan and Schumaker.   All of the 4 outfielders listed above are showing they perform at a level resembling league average for a starter, and they do it at a low cost.   There isn't anyone in this unit really dragging us down the way the middle infield is.  They each are providing a value to the club to varying extents, in my opinion.   I think we should keep our general agreement that an outfielder should be moved, and our arguments over which outfielder it should be, in that context.