Could the influence of St. Louis Cardinals pitching guru Dave Duncan be getting out of control to the point the club’s offense has adopted his ground ball out strategy as well?
One might suggest the team’s hitters are taking it to the extreme, following the old baseball axiom, “Two outs are better than one.”
Team factoids
Cardinals’ hitters grounded into five double plays on Wednesday night at Houston, a new season high.
In the process, St. Louis’ Major League Baseball-leading season GIDP total grew to 34.
To help put that into current context, it is double the National League average of 17, excluding St. Louis.
No NL team is even close, with perennial NL Central doormat Pittsburgh having the next-most GIDPs at 23.
12 of the Cardinals’ 34 occurred at arguably the most damaging time – with one or more runners in scoring position.
The team rate is one GIDP per each 24.7 at-bats.
Despite the five road GIDPs Wednesday, the Cardinals have been much more likely to do so at home with one per every 20.2 total at-bats at Busch Stadium versus one per every 30.5 at-bats while on the road this season.
Left-handed pitchers are best at inducing ground ball double plays against Cardinals hitters with a success rate of one per 19.5 total at-bats. Righty opponents have been collecting GIDPs at a rate of one per each 27.2 at-bats.
Player factoids
Albert Pujols leads the National League and is tied for tops in MLB in ground into double plays this season with nine. No other NL player has more than six.
Among players with enough at-bats to qualify, Yadier Molina is second on the Cardinals and tied for sixth in the league with four GIDPs. Colby Rasmus and Skip Schumaker have three each.
In terms of GIDP rate among all Cardinals, Pujols (one per 10.2 at-bats) does not lead the team. Albeit in just 19 and 20 at-bats each, respectively, Nick Punto (9.5) and Gerald Laird (10), are grounding into double plays at a higher rate than Albert. Jon Jay at one GIDP in every 14 at-bats (two GIDP in 28 at-bats) would be fourth.
A player not known for his wheels, Lance Berkman, has been the most difficult Cardinal to double up with just one GIDP in his first 78 official at-bats with the club. Matt Holliday is next-toughest with one in his first 63 at-bats this season.
Player career factoids
The always slow-footed catcher Molina had a career rate of one GIDP per 23.5 at-bats heading into this season. His 2011 rate is one per 18.3 ABs.
Over his first decade prior to 2011, Pujols had ground into double plays at a rate of one per every 28.2 at-bats. His 10.2 rate this season is 176 percent higher.
Pujols is on pace to ground into 61 double plays this season. That is over double the Cardinals team record of 29, set by Ted Simmons in 1973.
The all-time NL single-season high of 32 was set by Miguel Tejada in 2008 while the MLB record of 36 was attained by Jim Rice in 1984.
Team career factoids
Last season, the Cardinals finished with the fifth-most GIDP’s in the NL with 124.
Their 2010 rate of one per 44.7 at-bats is in stark comparison to their 24.7 rate this season – 81 percent higher.
The Cardinals are on pace to ground into 230 double plays this season. It would obliterate the MLB record of 174, set by the 1990 Boston Red Sox. The 1958 Cardinals, with 166 GIDPs in just 154 games, had the most in NL history.
Footnote
Setting the league ground into double play record does not indicate team success or failure.
The 1990 Red Sox still won 88 games and finished in first place, but were swept by Tony La Russa’s Oakland A’s in the ALCS. On the other hand, the 1958 Cardinals went home at the end of the regular season, having won just 72 games and ending in fifth place.
Of course, reality after 162 games may vary substantially from rate stats through 24 games, but where will the 2011 Cardinals finish?
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A comment from DG’s article…….
“A factor Wednesday was how cautiously Pujols ran three days removed from hamstring trouble”.
Nice article Derrick, until you arrive at a need to use this line. Sad in a way.
Opposing pitchers try to induce ground balls. But not with Pujols. They are just sure they give him a chance to chase something for his numbers “war chest”. He does the rest. Cardinal fans seem to be naive about how opposing teams are “treating” our super star. And he won’t make adjustments. Every team in the league should just take him to 3/0, and then jam him or use off speed away. His perennial green light would doom us all.
Bonds…….ripped on steroids……best hitter ever……. teams would even pitch to him anymore…… he made the Giansts a circus, not a winner………….. AP’s 30 million dollar fantasy can’t be fullfilled…..on a winning team………as you are seeing in these numbers…………. its a game……. two teams usually show up. But I said all this pre-season……. If Pujols took an incredible hack at every first pitch…..and didn’t swing at any others…….he would have more HR’s. Doubles………the works…. and he would walk twice a game anyway…………. he will suffer his present state until he excepts the truth. You can’t walk on water, even if you make 30 per…… water has an attitude.
Accepts the truth, not excepts.
2. Freese, 3B
3. Pujols, 1B
4. Holliday, LF
5. Berkman, RF
6. Rasmus, CF
7. Laird, C
8. Greene, SS
9. McClellan,
I figured to see Descalso…………… the 3/4 delivery of Figuroa may have encouraged Tony to try Greene and Freese again………….with those Crawford box in play………Colby 6th looks like a sanctioning……after the “rest day”……………. this guy will make AP’s mouth water………lets see if he’s hungry enough to stay back and put the whole field in play…………….
Brian, are you and Goold mind melding again?
I guess the five GIDPs last night caught everyone’s attention.
AP’s rbi single late in the games was a few feet away from number 6…………. 3/0 count. He rolled over on that one too,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Matt Holiday tells you how a guy “with a contract” thinks about the game.
The Cards are slow. Molina and Pujols still steal some bases, but only because other teams allow them to. Freese has wheels past their “use by” date. Berkman is no speed demon.
The best runners are Greene, Theriot, Rasmus, and Skip.
Around MLB, few players have all 5 tools. This team can hit a lot better than it can motor. That’s ok. It is worse to have speedy guys who cannot get on base.
The double plays are a small n issue.
I may have jinxed Berkman as he grounded into his second DP in the second inning Thursday night.
Kmac is pitching by the numbers………. we are in trouble………..we would need to explode to come back here…………I don’t thinks so.
We are going to whomp these chumps!
Uh….it is not looking so good for whomping. One hit in four innings does not a whomping make.
The Astros stink. The Cards can hit. Give it time.
McClellan not sharp. He is hanging too many balls. Albert and Matt have to hit or this game is over.
You need to cultivate some positive feelings about the 2011 season. Yes Wainwright got hurt and yes Brendan got shipped out, but Cleto pitched a strong game tonight for Palm Beach and we should capture the Central Division.
I have positive feelings, but I call them like I see them. However, since Albert and Matt did what O told them to do and Berkman hit a jack, I am feeling better about this game.
Last fall, Keith Law and others were saying Brett Wallace could not hit the inside pitch. Brett backed away from the plate, now he is averaging .370. Law is a genius. Not.
Watch him set up open Jumbo……..and then toes his way back to square during the windup.
Man, you need to relax. I do not want to ever watch Brett Wallace that closely!
Good for you Jumbo………… Kmac is good with a bat………good enough for a safety squeeze….what a waste……..Tony is depressed.
I’m assuming that’s a bat. I’m afraid to look too closely.
………………………………………………………….
Quality at bat for Holiday………he got the ball out of the infield…….all swings attempted were to complete that swing thought……………AP sucks…….
Ooooohweeeeee. Just tuned in at the topof this one.
Thanks for helping turn the tide, Kansas. This web site could use some Cards friendly posters.
Oh come on Jumbo, just because some of us don’t see the glass full all the time doesn’t mean we aren’t Cards friendly.
Westie drivels that Pujols sucks. Yes, I think we could use some better fans around here.
Kansas shows up with a positive vibe and we start taking names and kicking backside. Thanks Kansas.
For me it might be the Budweiser that contributes to the vibe
Whatever it takes man, you are getting the job done here tonight.
Berkman doing his best to kill the talk he can’t hit lefties anymore.
Here is a little inside baseball tip…..When the Strohs have a pitcher with the surname, Abad, thats not good for Houston!
Clarify please?
Its not good to have a pitcher whose name includes the three letters “bad”. Ok?
Gotcha. Slow on the uptake.
We haven’t got to the final act yet…………… Bautista…….Mott and Boggs.
Motte is spelled with an e.
If Berkman cranks one………..we could try Franklin…………
Colby’s 2 walks and a line drive single gets my vote for game ball……………… if he could crank one here, me actually might see Franklin………..
This game needs to be called. Its turning into a laugher. I said we would whomp these chumps back when it was not a dead cert that we would. Maybe I will retire from the prediction business, given a high average. McClellan will be 4-0 soon.
Not so fast. Bases loaded, bullpen coming in.
I couldn’t agree more Jumbo…………. a most excellent prognostication. Whomp these Chumps.
Even Westie is going to have to give props to McGwire if this offense continues on a tear.
One more inning for McClellen then I hope we can go Franklin, Bautista, Motte.
Pitch to contact KMac, we need a DP
Ooooh so close.
The Astros are being doubled up at home, through 7. The Cardinals are bullies.
Bautista sure gives up some solid contact for a guy with such good velocity and movement. Seems like he’s a pitch short somehow.
You just got blown away jumbo with this duzzy……………
Velocity? You are drunk, right?
Freese getting rested or what gives?
Salas get the hot seat again…………..
Thats 4 for 4 for Miller……………..that is a tough stat……..
Actually 5-5.
Pense kills another rally………what are hero’s for?
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good
We have a real hero on this team.
I expected him to be good, but not this good. Of course my real concern was how long he could stay healthy – that remains to be seen. It will hurt even more if he goes out if this team becomes dependent on him.
Punto throws some leather to keep Boggs out of the game………..
That was Greene.
thanks Crd…………….. It was Greene……. the removal of Descalso doesn’t bode well for staying up.
Descalso made two errors. But he needs to play everyday at Memphis anyway.
Berkman made a mockery out of the double play issue. He was the only guy to hit into one tonight.
He also slammed two long homers, singled, and doubled. He looked fast running out the double. Holliday and Berkman have averages over .400. Berkman has the higher OPS, owing to slugging.
If Lance played for the Diamondbacks in their little stadium he might rack up 100 HRs in a season. Even playing in spacious Busch Stadium, Berkman is on fire, early in the season. He must be eating Wheaties or has discovered the fountain of youth (thanks McGwire). Both his homers tonight were bombs, not Crawford box cheapies. Berkman is not just helping out the Clubhouse with his sense of humor, he is taking over the Cardinals with Superman feats.
Aging Berkman rediscovers stardom when finally united with TLR. What a great story! Better yet, the Berkman story drowns out all the stale garbage we used to hear, like is Colby having enough fun yet and asking to be traded? Or, how big will Pujols’ contract be? Or, will the Birds collapse without Wainwright? Or, why did we trade fun-loving Brendan Ryan? Or, why does Molina not run faster? So much nonsense has been swept aside and forgotten because of the fantastic hitting of Berkman.
Not to put to fine a point on it………………………….
Yes little buddy, Berkman is making Mo and TLR look like geniuses. Kyle Lohse too. Theriot has been a positive pickup as well.
Last summer, the team died in August from lack of runs. Now we have Berkman, Theriot, Freese is hitting well, Holliday is hitting very well too. We will get back Skip and Allen Craig, who will be helpful. Greene is 5 for 5 on steals. TLR has lots of players to work with.
Salas got his first save last night, Sanchez on Wed night. Boggs got 3 recently. If Boggsie had not gotten a little wild on Tuesday, we would have swept Houston owing to Lance’s fantastic return home.
Daddy Duncan has plenty of weapons. Instead of putting all our chips on Ryan Franklin, now we have a closer committee of Boggs, Sanchez, and Salas. That’s better.
Plus Ryan Franklin shaved off ugly facial hair recently. This is a step in the right direction. For Franklin, it may help to look better on the path toward pitching better. He better pitch better, because we have enough pitchers without him.
What goes up must come down. Don’t hit your head on the way.
Brendan Ryan has an OPS of 550 for the Mariners. He will need to lift it, to remain in the Show. Good luck to him.
Meanwhile the Cards are well served with Theriot. For a bonus, Cleto is pitching well and should earn a promotion to AA. The Mariners have been good at signing Latin hurlers (F. Hernandez, M. Pineda). Maybe Mo picked a plum in exchange for Ryan.
Sorry, but you can’t push my buttons with the Brendan Ryan shots anymore. Nice try though.
We’re getting to the point where we have some sample size. The rotation has had 5 turns and the bottom leads the way with 4 wins each for the Kyles. Lohse so far the innings eater, leading with 38. The aces Chris and Adam combining for zip.
Albert is 5th in OPS among regulars with Lance on pace for about 140 RBI.
Tony has rediscovered the multi inning save.
It kind of looks like Miller and Franky are both on the slippery slope.
If they’d have made a movie like that we’d have been laughing our butts off at such nonsense.
Lohse is a better pitcher than some may be aware, because he pitched for Minnesota, Cinci, and the Phillies, home parks that favor hitters.
A question will be how well Garcia and McClellan hold up for the entirety of the season. Carpenter and Westbrook know how to pitch, so should improve to compensate if G and M fade.
Pujols, Holliday, and Berkman are similar in terms of hitting line drives and making contact.
Actually they are not similar this season. Albert has a measly 12% LD rate while Berkman is at 23% and Holliday is at 30%. Over the last few year they have been similar (slightly over 20%).
As for contact they have never been similar. Holliday strikes out more than 50% more than Alber both this year and for his career. Berkman is about 35% more than Pujols this year his K rate is almost double that of Alberts the last few years.
This year Albert’s GB rate is up about 20% over normal though it is only slightly higher than Berkman’s and Holliday’s.
The most amazing stat is Holliday’s .510 BABIP percentage. That shows incredible luck. It is Even for a 30% LD rate that is amazingly high. Albert’s BABIP is a low.225 but it is not that inconsistent with his 12% LD rate.
Good info CC. What could explain the low line drive rate, and higher GB rate?
Timing off? Balance off? Probably one of the swing guru’s here would have an idea.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2011/04/29/atlanta_braves_pitcher_lowe_charged_with_dui/?rss_id=Boston.com+–+Baseball+News