Here are some random facts about the Cards’ offense:
- Since Rick Ankiel was hurt last season, around July 27, he’s hitting .203 w/ an OBP of .290. His SLG over that time is a paltry .357 making his OPS just .647. This is over his last 207 PAs – not an inconsequential total. It’s about a third of a season’s worth of PAs.
- Cardinal third basemen are hitting .236/.314/.352 so far this season.
- Cardinal outfielders are hitting just .249/.312/.426 so far this season.
- Cardinal cleanup hitters are hitting just .211/.293/.376. They’ve hit 9 HR in 243 PAs.
- The 6th place hitters in the Cards’ lineup are hitting .205/.282/.327 so far this season. 9th place hitters are hitting .208/.280/.270. In essence, we have pitchers batting twice in every rotation in our lineup.
- No one on the team has swung at the first pitch more than Joe Thurston. That’s surprising to me. He’s hitting .241/.241/.379 when swinging at the first pitch.
- With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, the Cards are hitting .226/.324/.319. That’s right, w/ 2 outs and runners in scoring position, our OBP is higher than our slugging %.
- In the first inning, the Cards are hitting .221/.307/.380 which crushes the team’s performance in the 2nd inning -- .183/.233/.267. The team’s OPS in the 2nd inning is .500 and its OPS+ relative to the rest of the league (avg. = 100) is 37. In the first 3 innings, the team’s OPS+ relative to the rest of the league is 77 – 23% below league average.
- When facing a starting pitcher the first time through the order, the team is hitting .200/.268/.316 for an sOPS+ of 64.
- Chris Duncan’s OPS is now lower than Joe Thurston’s.
- Brian Barden is hitting .235/.290/.388. Why hasn’t he been sent to Memphis to be replaced by Allen Craig, Jon Jay, or Joe Mather. I know that none of them are exactly crushing the ball at Memphis but they all have more potential at the plate than Barden does. In fact, their potential is greater than Stavinoha’s as well.
- Since April 29, Yadi is hitting .196/.287/.255. He has just 2 XBH (both homers) over those 31 games.
- Only 3 NL teams have a lower BB rate than the Cards’ 9.2%.
- Only 4 NL teams have a lower OBP than the Cards’ .327.
- Surprisingly, the Cards’ are in the middle of the pack (7th in the NL) in homers.
- The Cards’ line drive % (18.5%) is 2nd to last in the NL.
- Only 2 NL teams have swung at a higher % of pitches outside the strike zone than the Cards have.
- Only the Giants (in the NL) have swung at a higher % of pitches than the Cards. We swing at damned near everything.
- In terms of wRAA, Albert has produced 26.0. Tyler Greene’s at 1.6 and Rasmus has 1.1. Ludwick’s at 0.6 and Thurston’s at 0.5 wRAA. Every other Cardinal hitter’s wRAA is negative, meaning that these 5 hitters are the only ones who’ve produced at an above average rate. And you can see that Albert’s production dwarfs the entire rest of the team’s.
The lineup really ought to be called Albert and the 7 Dwarfs, except for the fact that Rasmus seems to really be turning into a hitter. I think Ludwick will come around as well so maybe soon it can be Albert, Colby, and Ryan and the 4 Dwarfs. Day game ahead. Game thread goes up around 1:00.