Offense is UP

by JWO on Mar 12, 2009 9:40 AM EDT Comment 23 comments

Just to shift gears away from all the talk about Skip, 2B, and defense, I thought I'd start a thread to discuss how well the St. Louis OFFENSE seems to be performing in the early portions of spring training. I know this is the time of year when managers experiment, the games don't count and people are just stretching themselves out for the season. But, consider this:

In 12 Games, the Cardinals have scored 90 RUNS (7.5 per game)
Virtually every starter is CRUSHING the ball
Duncan, perhaps the biggest surprise is leading the team in homers
Duncan is ALSO hitting at a .370 clip
Schmuaker continues to hit .333 while learning a brand new position
The most recent game (Marlins) gave us 8 runs, 14 hits

Now, I don't have the stats from the 2008 ST, but this has to represent a significant uptick in offensive production from what is normal. Just comparing the Cardinals to the best teams in the league, the Cubs are averaging 5.3 runs, the Red Sox 6.1, the Rays 6.7, the Phillies 5.9... Should we be encouraged by the hitting we are seeing at the plate? Has the addition of such pieces as Greene, moving Skip to 2B, and other tweaks turned us into some sort of scoring juggernaut?

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Last Spring, through 12 games (not including the college team game), the Cardinals had scored 54 runs, or 4.5/game.

We also had three game where we gave up runs in double digits, totalling 42 RA in those three games alone.

by liam on Mar 12, 2009 1:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Realistically

By sacrificing some defense, we could put out a team with 6 guys OPSing .800+ and a further two (Molina and Greene) who could (in a hot year, with a bit of luck etc etc) be in the .750-.800 range. That’s pretty tasty, especially when you’ve got albert in the middle of it….

The main concern, I guess, is that we’ve got worse at 3B, SS and considerably worse at 2B defensively. I don’t see our pitchers out-performing their field-independent stats so well again this year….

Because chicks dig the intentional base on balls.

by Felonius_Monk on Mar 12, 2009 2:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I dont think we lost much at SS

by Evilfrog on Mar 12, 2009 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

Khalil is a solid defender, and his upside w/ the bat can overcome the added defense Iz2 would provide.

Patiently awaiting the day Colby Rasmus does this: .275/.381/.551/.932, 29HR, in St. Louis...

by RunninRedbird on Mar 12, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

But he IS worse than Iz2 by any metric you care to name (and most scouting reports as far as I can tell).

Iz2 = above-average SS. KG = pretty average-ish SS.

The bat more than compensates and KG is def. a better player IMO and should improve the team but my point still stands that the SS position has got worse defensively, along with 2B and 3B (and probably LF as it looks like Duncan’s inking his name onto the roster with his hitting).

Because chicks dig the intentional base on balls.

by Felonius_Monk on Mar 13, 2009 6:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

you have to look at the whole picture though

Khalil is basically the same kind of batter against both LHP and RHP, so he probably won’t be platooned as much as Izturis was. When you don’t have to put the glove of Aaron Miles at shortstop for 25-30 games, you make up a lot on the defensive side.

I am trying to forget the Miles at SS games, and it is going well. I am correct in remembering he was not a good SS though, right?

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

and....BEN SHEETS!!! **

**not that BEN SHEETS might be involved in this comment, just BEN SHEETS!!!
(BEN SHEETS might be involved in this comment)

by mattyfrommo on Mar 13, 2009 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good point

BTW I am going to have a lot of fun watching Miles play short for the Cubs next year.

vivaelbeñsheets

by vivaelpujols on Mar 14, 2009 5:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

we also have been facing a lot of AAA teams.

varitek, lowrie and lugo are the only potential starting position players on the sawx squad today. and those are three of the weakest links on the team. we tend to have more starts from regular position players in st, though we’re certainly also testing out the tyler greenes. we also only lost one starting player to the WBC. i don’t draw any conclusions from our record in ST.

by tom s. on Mar 12, 2009 2:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

None of those guys pitch.

Not that I value ST offensive stats, but missing starters (well, maybe a catcher would) have no bearing on how well the opposing team hits.

by TheBirds on Mar 12, 2009 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

fielding?

you don’t think mike lowell, youkilis, pedroia, ellsbury, and drew have maybe a little impact on what happens when they don’t have a chunk of lumber in their hands?

by tom s. on Mar 12, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

not a huge effect.

There was a game where the Marlin’s couldn’t field, but they had their regulars. I guess the Nats count as a AAA team, but they’ll be a AAA team when the regular season starts. So really, can’t blame everything on the WBC.

I think you are just pointing out some pretty negligible details when you consider that pitchers don’t have all their pitches down and most teams have throw a bunch of bad relievers out there. Compared to that, who really even thinks to mention defense.

by TheBirds on Mar 12, 2009 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I never "blamed everything on the WBC" or claimed that defense has a "huge effect."

i noted that we weren’t facing great teams and that other teams lost more than one player to the WBC. I never made any absolute statements at all. i didn’t say it was all defense. i didn’t say it was all the WBC. I didn’t compare the role of pitching to the role of defense. I pointed out some contributing factors.

you said you don’t even “value ST offensive stats” but yet you felt the need to make some pedantic argument (and one which was ridiculous — that fielders have no effect on how hitters hit) about my offhand comment? ok.

by tom s. on Mar 12, 2009 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

too early to tell if this is sustainable/small sample size

but yeah, by removing kennedy and izturis from the lineup, it’s like getting an oil change and installing a turbo injector into the offense

4B - beer baseball bands blog

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Mar 12, 2009 2:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

there's an old saying about not taking the #'s too seriously in March & September

i forget how it goes, but it basically means spring training games don’t count because pitchers are just trying to get loose & get a feel for their pitches. and the September calls ups are usually playing for a losing team & they aren’t always getting the best efforts from the guys in the other dugouts. so their #‘s aren’t for real either.

i’m not saying that applies here, i agree dumping IZ2 & the Sultan Of Suck will improve the O. i’m just saying it’s too early to tell right now if this is a season long trend, or a early spring aberration.

BEN MOTHERHUSHYOURMOUTH SHEETS

I'm going to go try to find a puppy and kick it. - Brad Thompson AND THAT'S A WINNER!

by gdm426 on Mar 12, 2009 4:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

and not only are the pitchers getting loose

but the opposing starters are only throwing 3-5 innings, and a lot of the remaining innings are being taken up by guys desperately trying for roster spots. Not to mention split squad games.

Though it’s good to see that Duncan’s gotten his approach back.

They say that it's never too late, but you don't get any younger...

by Valatan on Mar 12, 2009 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

encouraging

yes, spring training isn’t definitive, but clearly this 2009 bunch will be better offensively, compared to previous years. By the same token we can expect giving UP more runs too.
Will be exciting.
The bullpen will be better (low bar for that) but it all rests on how the starters make out.

I see a lot of 8 to 6 wins… and losses… ahead

by the Tewk on Mar 12, 2009 11:58 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Is it concerning to anyone that Pujols, Ludwick, Ankiel, Greene, or Rasmus have

zero HRs between them?

by Czechguardsman on Mar 13, 2009 10:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nope

Only been a total of 12 games played and none of these guys have gotten the average 4 AB’s in every game. Come the end of the season we’ll still see Albert with 35-40. The other three are question marks as to where their final totals will land, but the long balls will come. No need for worry.

Patiently awaiting the day Colby Rasmus does this: .275/.381/.551/.932, 29HR, in St. Louis...

by RunninRedbird on Mar 13, 2009 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs