bruce at I Say What I Mean has the question of the day: "what have they done with coors field?" sent it off and replaced it with the astrodome, seemingly. so far in the series the cards have 6 runs and 16 hits, likely totals for one coors field outing . . . . . i never made it down there last night, alas -- stopped in my tracks by a piece of sad family news -- and so missed the altitudinous pitcher's duel. it's just as well; after all my bitching about the place the other day i was steeled and psyched up for an orgy of cheap run-scoring; wrong frame of mind for a 2-1 snoozer. a 2 hour 30 minute ballgame at coors -- and one where a baserunner's misread on a bunt proved critical? there may be hope for roger cedeno's hall-of-fame quest yet.
today's denver post (scroll down) reports that scoring is down to 12 runs a game at coors this year, approaching the record low for a full season (11.94 runs per game in 2003). and the last six games have produced a total of only 43 runs, or 7.17 per contest -- downright civilized. dan agonistes noted the trend last week and posted some excellent coors miscellania, along with an update on the rockies' unauthorized humidor experiment.
so coors is slumping; who cares? the slump that concerns us is the cardinals'. stl has scored three runs or fewer in five of its last nine games. and, per david pinto's recent observation (and this blog's elaboration), the offense hasn't really been the same since scott rolen's injury. the cards are still scoring (5.0 runs a game in his 19-game absence, vs. 5.2 a game before the injury) but all their basic numbers are down:
| category | thru 5/10 | since 5/10 |
|---|---|---|
| runs/game | 5.2 | 5.0 |
| average | .270 | .258 |
| on-base | .342 | .327 |
| slugging | .449 | .393 |
i used pinto's day-by-day database to see if it's possible to isolate the dropoff. check it out:
STL HITTERS, POST-ROLEN INJURY
| category | avg | obp | slg | ops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eck'n | .303 | .379 | .447 | .827 |
| walker | .212 | .311 | .346 | .658 |
| pujols | .292 | .362 | .472 | .835 |
| edmonds | .276 | .425 | .603 | 1.028 |
| sanders | .220 | .304 | .300 | .604 |
| grud'k | .349 | .382 | .460 | .843 |
| mabry | .275 | .315 | .471 | .785 |
| nunez | .226 | .293 | .321 | .614 |
| yadi | .322 | .333 | .458 | .791 |
| bench | .156 | .206 | .203 | .409 |
take a gander at that bottom line: the bench. tags, roger, and seabol. automatic outs. and those numbers aren't inconsequential -- they were forged over 70 agonizing plate appearances, or nearly four a game -- a full-time player, in essence. we also learn that sanders and walker are scuffling . . . . hmmm, the outfielders. i recall hearing a concern or two about that part of the team lately.
'nother game at coors tonite; 'nother opp'ty to score 30 runs or so. maybe roger'll go 7-for-7; maybe it'll be another 2-1 snoozer. and while you're waiting for the bats to come back, sing along with the bellyitcher . . .
