David Freese is delivering considerably better offensive production from the third base position than the St. Louis Cardinals received in 2009.
What a difference a year makes.
12 months ago, the St. Louis Cardinals third base position was in shambles. Troy Glaus was hurt, out indefinitely and Brian Barden and Joe Thurston had returned to their past selves following brief periods of success. Newcomer David Freese had long been dispatched to Triple-A Memphis and was dealing with injuries of his own. Mark DeRosa was later acquired, but soon hit the disabled list, too.
Eight different players had a piece of the job last season, but none of them did much with it. As a result, the Cardinals’ productivity from the position was the lowest of any of the non-pitching spots in the lineup. Not what one expects from third base.
Coming into 2010, Freese had much to prove. He started quickly, but so did Barden last year. The latter actually won the National League Rookie of the Month in April, something Freese did not achieve this year.
The difference is that Freese is continuing to excel, and hasn’t demonstrated any signs of the dropoff shown by the 2009 players.
As an illustration, I am listing the full-season 2009 production from the Cardinals’ third base position. Next are Freese’s results this season to date. I then projected his 2010 actuals to the same 655 plate appearances the third basemen had last season. That may be a bit high, but offers an interesting illustration nonetheless.
| Cardinals | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2009 3B | 162 | 655 | 593 | 68 | 136 | 29 | 3 | 16 | 65 | 5 | 2 | 46 | 132 | 0.229 | 0.292 | 0.369 | 0.661 |
| Freese | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | 42 | 173 | 149 | 19 | 47 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 32 | 0.315 | 0.391 | 0.456 | 0.847 |
| Extended | 159 | 655 | 564 | 72 | 178 | 38 | 4 | 11 | 106 | 4 | 0 | 64 | 121 | 0.315 | 0.391 | 0.456 | 0.847 |
| YTY | 4 | 42 | 9 | 1 | -5 | 41 | -1 | -2 | 18 | -11 | 0.086 | 0.099 | 0.087 | 0.186 |
Home runs from the position would actually be down, but most importantly, run production would be way up. Though actual runs scored by the third baseman would only be four higher, the position would drive in 41 more.
How many more wins might 41 RBI deliver?
Further, Freese offers nearly 100 points of improvement in batting average, on-base and slugging over the 2009 third basemen.
Expecting Freese to maintain this pace may not be fair. The second time around the league may be tougher for the rookie and slumps will occur, but the possibilities are fun to ponder.
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WAR would be another way to look at the improvement at 3B.
Not sure what the Cardinal’s exact WAR at 3B was last year but i do know these figures.
Thurston -0.1 WAR
Barden 0.3 WAR
Freese 0.2 WAR
Derosa ? WAR Derosa’s overall WAR was 1.8 but he was much better for Cleveland than he was for us and I dont have it broken down by team or position (he also played some OF). I believe I read his Cardinal WAR was 0.5
Greene ? WAR not sure Greene’s WAR at 3B but he was negative overall for the year.
In any case it looks like the team’s overall WAR at 3B was less than 1.0
Freese’s overall WAR so far this year is 1.5 so we have already passed last years win contribution and may looking at a 4-5 win improvement for the year from 3B (maybe if we include Lopez’s numbers).
That would track with the general rule that .050 of OPS equals 1 WAR and Freese appears to be close .200 OPS better or 4 WAR for the year better than last years 3B men.
He’s definitely a pleasant surprise. Home runs are overrated – I would have no problems with a 38 double season out of the guy.