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The St. Louis Cardinals’ season has been nothing short of a disaster so far, but a veteran presence at the top of the line-up has seemed to ignite the offense.
Carpenter is at Home at Top of the Lineup
Matt Carpenter has been one of the best Cardinals’ lead-off hitters ever. No, he doesn’t have the speed of a Lou Brock or Vince Coleman, but that’s not his game. His has always been getting on base, which is the most important job of a lead-off man. There have been 23 players to log 1,000 plate appearances in the lead-off position for St. Louis. Carpenter ranks in the top three in nearly every important offensive category.
The Cardinals have won two in a row since Carpenter was moved to lead-off. He got on base four times in 11 plate appearances. Additionally, he drove in two runs and scored one. He’s probably not the answer for the entire season, but at this point, Cardinal fans will take what they can get.
Cardinals’ Lead-off Woes
So far this season, the Cardinals’ lead-off men were 27th among 30 MLB teams with a paltry .204 batting average and 29th in OBP at .277. Something needed to change, and for now, it seems Carpenter is the man for the job.
The Cardinals clearly needed a better on base percentage at the top of the lineup, and Marmol made a rare good call by putting Carpenter in the lead-off position in the lineup.
Donovan Needs to Get Back on Track
The Cardinals’ poor lead-off statistics can be traced back to Brendan Donovan’s struggles. The team was counting on him to continue being the on base machine that he has been the past couple of seasons. However, he has struggled mightily like most of the team’s hitters.
The struggles of Donovan have hurt the offense in a big way. If he isn’t producing, then the offense will undoubtedly struggle to score runs. If he doesn’t turn things around quickly, then the Cardinals will find themselves in the cellar once again at the trade deadline looking to sell rather than buy.
Is Donovan’s quest for power hurting his OBP. That was my first thought when he tried that last year. He is never going to hit enough HRs to be viable. Donovan is best when he works long counts out of the pitcher and gets on base. I hope Donovan and Carp get-together in a tutoring session to instruct D in his craft.
Agreed, and I had the same thought when he started trying to hit for more power.