Analyzing the St. Louis Cardinals Week 2

Listed first are stats for the week.  Season stats are in parenthesis.

Record: 3-3 (5-7)

Run Differential: 0 (-3)

Total Score: 27-27 (56-59)

Average Runs Scored: 4.5 (4.667)

Average Runs Allowed: 4.5 (4.917)

This week, the Cardinals broke even in both win/loss and the scoring.  For the season, they are being outscored by an average of 0.25 runs per game.  They did improve dramatically in terms of runs allowed.  Last week, they gave up 5.3 runs per game.  That’s a 0.8 runs per game improvement.

Individual Performances

C – Willson Contreras: .048/.167/.048  (.180/.238/.205)  HR 0 (0), Season OPS+ 24   Season DRS +1  Season Caught Stealing 67%  4 CS in 6 SB attempts

This was nothing short of a brutal week at the plate for Contreras.  The good news though, his play behind the plate has been excellent.  Hopefully, the bat comes around soon.

1B – Paul Goldschmidt: .292/.393/.417 (.364/.491/.523) HR 0 (1),  Season OPS+ 179  Season DRS 0

Goldy turned in another solid week.  He is notoriously a slow starter.  That doesn’t seem to be the case this season.

2B – Brendan Donovan: .150/.227/.150 (.214/.277/.357)  HR 0 (2), Season OPS+ 73  Season DRS -1

This was certainly a rough week for Brendan Donovan.  He did have a highlight reel catch in LF this week.

3B – Nolan Arenado: .348/.429/.652 (.327/.382/.490) HR 2 (2), Season OPS+ 138 Season DRS +1

Nolan had a great week at the dish.  The first of his 2 HR this week was number 300 for his career.

SS – Tommy Edman: .333/.474/.600 (.290/.372/.395) HR 1 (1), Season OPS+ 111 Season DRS +1

After struggling in week one, Edman had a stellar week two.

LF –  Alec Burleson: .286/.412/.500 (.300/.364/.567) HR 0 (1), Season OPS+ 151  Season DRS -1

If anyone is wondering why this guy keeps playing and batting second, just look at the production.  While we are all star struck by Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson continues to just be super solid.  He is a top 100 prospect for a reason.  Dude can rake. Lars Nootbaar is on a rehab assignment and will return soon.  It’s going to be tough to take Burleson out of the lineup.  It’s actually a nice problem to have.

CF – Tyler O’Neill: .286/.318/.429 (.282/.317/.436) HR 1 (2), Season OPS+ 104 Season DRS -2

The rift between Manager Oliver Marmol and Tyler O’Neill is seemingly behind us.  Tyler has been okay at the plate but not so good in CF.

RF – Jordan Walker: .304/.360/.435 (.319/.360/.489) HR 1 (2), Season OPS+ 131 Season DRS -3

Jordan Walker’s hot start to his career continues.  He’s riding a 12 game hitting streak to start his career.  His offensive production was a little bit lesser than the first week but his defense improved tremendously.  Jordan Walker appears to be a superstar in the making.

DH – Nolan Gorman: .188/.278/.625 (.313/.436/.750) HR 2 (4), Season OPS+ 218 Season DRS 0

Gorman hit two heroic late game homers in Denver this past week.  His performance otherwise this week was a bit shaky.  He still came through when he was most needed.

C – Andrew Knizner: .000/.000/.000 (.100/.100/.100) HR 0 (0) Season OPS+ -45 Season DRS 0 Caught Stealing 0% in 1 attempt.

Only 3 plate appearances in just 1 game for Knizner this week.

IF – Taylor Motter: .182/.250/.273 (.231/.286/.385) HR 0 (0), Season OPS+ 82 Season DRS +1

Motter has been unspectacular, yet not awful.

OF – Dylan Carlson: .143/.250/.143 (.300/.333/.350) HR0 (0) Season OPS+ 88 Season DRS +2

A minor neck injury has kept him out of action for the past few days.  If it’s still bothering him when it’s time to activate Lars Nootbaar, don’t be surprised if he’s placed on the 10 day IL retroactive to when the injury began.

DH: Juan Yepez: .375/.375/.750 (.333/.333/.583) HR 1 (1) Season OPS+ 146 Season DRS N/A

Juan played in two games this week and made the most of his opportunities.

SP – Miles Mikolas: GS 1 (3) IP 5 (14.1) ERA 10.80 (10.05) WHIP 2.400 (2.233) K 3 (15) BB 2 (3) HBP 0 (1) Season FIP (5.78)

The rough start to the season continues for Miles Mikolas.

SP – Jack Flaherty: GS 2 (3) IP 10.1 (15.1) ERA 2.61 (1.76) WHIP 1.548 (1.500) K 9 (13) BB 7 (14) HBP 0 (1) Season FIP 5.49

Jack continues to work out of danger.  Walks have been a problem.

SP – Jordan Montgomery: GS 1 (2) IP 7.0 (12.0) ERA 0.00 (2.25) WHIP .0714 (1.000) K 9 (12) BB 2 (3) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 2.15

Monty has been the best starter in the rotation this far.

SP – Jake Woodford: GS 1 (2) IP 4.2 (9) ERA 5.79 (9.00) WHIP 1.500 (1.889) K 5 (8) BB 1 (4) HBP 1 (1) Season FIP 9.07

Jake was better but still not very good in his start this week.

SP – Steven Matz: GS 1 (2) IP 5.2 (11.0) ERA 9.53 (8.18) WHIP 1.941 (2.000) K 4 (11) BB 2 (3) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP  4.58

The FIP suggests some bad batted ball luck.  Hopefully that luck turns around.

RP – Packy Naughton: G 1 (4) IP 0.2 (5.0) ERA 0.00 (0.00) WHIP 1.500 (0.600) K 1 (5) BB 1 (1) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 2.00

Went on the 15 day injured list with a forearm strain.  Genesis Cabrera called up in his place.

RP – Genesis Cabrera: G 2, IP 2.1, ERA 0.00, WHIP 0.429, K 3, BB 0, HBP 0, FIP 0.83

Cabby is back in the bigs and he’s off to a nice start in his return.

RP – Zack Thompson: G 3 (5) IP 2.0 (5.1) ERA 0.00 (0.00) WHIP 3.000 (1.500) K 2 (7) BB 2 (3) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 2.47

Gave up way too many base runners this week.

RP – Andre Pallante: G 3 (6) IP 3.0 (6.1) ERA 12.00 (7.11) WHIP 2.333 (1.737) K 3 (4) BB 0 (1) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 4.67

FIP suggests some degree of bad luck.

RP – Drew Verhagen: G 3 (6) IP 2.1 (5.2) ERA 7.71 (3.18) WHIP 2.143 (1.235) K 3 (8) BB 1 (1) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 1.11

It only takes one bad outing to wreck a reliever’s week.  He’s still off to a decent start to the season.

RP – Chris Stratton: G 2 (4) IP 1.1 (5.0) ERA 0.00 (1.80) WHIP 0.000 (0.600) K 1 (4) BB 0 (0) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 1.80

It might be time to start trusting Chris Stratton a bit more.

RP – Jordan Hicks: G 2 (5) IP 1.2 (5.0) ERA 5.40 (10.80) WHIP 1.800 (2.800) K 2 (5) BB 1 (6) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 7.60

Command continues to haunt him

RP – Giovanny Gallegos: G 2 (3) IP 2.0 (3.0) ERA 0.00 (0.00) WHIP 0.000 (0.333) K 4 (6) BB 0 (0) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP -0.60

Gio has been unhittable so far.

CP – Ryan Helsley: G 3 (5) IP 3.0 (5.2) ERA 0.00 (3.18) WHIP 1.000 ( 1.412) K 6 (8) BB 1 (2) HBP 0 (0) Season FIP 1.64

After a shaky first outing of the season, Helsley has been dominant.

This was a better week than week 1 but it certainly wasn’t a great week.

Schedule for week 3: All home games.  4 games against the Pittsburgh Pirates (7-5) followed by 3 games against the Arizona Diamondbacks (8-5).  Both teams are off to a good start this season.