Slumping hitters not cleaning up

 

It is no longer just bordering on embarrassing. This slump of the Cardinals that dates back to May 4 is embarrassing. The Cardinals were outscored 33-9 when the Rockies swept them in a four-game this past weekend. As Thom Brennaman put it during Fox’s telecast of the April 25 game against the Cubs, where El Hombre hit his second grand-slam of the season, this offensive production was not going to last season. The streakiness of the big boppers in the lineup was the culprit in a number of come-from-ahead losses in 2008 every bit as much as the bullpen’s 31 blown saves. The offense was without Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel for about three weeks with the team going 11-9 from May 4 to May 27. Even with those bats back in the lineup, it is the same old song and dance. The game is lost during the one inning where a pitcher and get a guy out to save his life and then put out of reach when the bullpen is now buckling under the pressure to keep these games close. We cannot use injuries as an excuse as Ludwick’s batting average continues to decline and Ankiel shows signs of busting loose, although the numbers are nowhere as good as last year’s. We are now truly seeing the affect Troy Glaus’s absence is having on the offense.

 

The lineup is lacking a true cleanup hitter–a Manny Ramirez to Albert Pujols’s Big Papi (of course that comparison makes little sense in 2009). A hitter who actually thrives in the role of cleanup hitter is rarity in baseball. The combination of Ryan Ludwick, Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, and Yadier Molina has a combined .203 average batting in the cleanup spot. The absence of Troy Glaus makes this a more glaring problem. Now, granted he did not put up stellar numbers as a cleanup hitter in 2008. In fact, his best production came out of the Number 5 spot the lineup where he had 81 of his 99 runs batted in, along with a .495 slugging percentage and .871 OPS in 394 at-bats. Those same numbers in 114 at-bats in the cleanup spot were 13, .351, and .656 respectively. Glaus and a more productive Rick Ankiel during the first two-thirds of 2008 gave the Cardinals’ offense a trap door, if you will. Whichever one of these streaky hitters, along with Ludwick, was hot would get to bat in the cleanup spot. As he was starting garner national attention in April and May, Luddy got more at-bats in the cleanup spot. When his bat cooled off in June, he would bat as low as sixth or even bat second behind Pujols once Albert returned from the disabled list.  He was the most productive in 2008 batting either or fourth.

 

By Batting Order	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Batting #2	127	29	43	12	2	10	30	14	2	34	.339	.407	.701	1.108
Batting #4	264	49	78	17	0	20	59	29	4	72	.295	.369	.587	.956

 

Take away Ludwick’s at-bats in the cleanup spot and the three others who have gotten at-bats there are batting a combined .151. That may be a reason for Ludwick’s May and June decline (which began before going on the disabled list) following a solid April.

 

By Day/Month		AB	R		H		2B		3B		HR		RBI		BB		HBP		SO		SB		CS		AVG		OBP		SLG		OPS
April		74	10		22		4		0		5		19		4		0		14		1		0		.297		.329		.554		.883
May		43	7		8		0		0		3		8		7		2		9		1		0		.186		.321		.395		.716
June	24		1	3		0		0		1		1		0		0		5		0		0		.125		.125		.250		.375

 

Ludwick is stuck in the cleanup spot in the batting order because no one else has been able to equal the production of a productive Ryan Ludwick.

 

The need for another bat in the lineup becomes more urgent. Matt Holliday has again come up in possible trade talk. The detractors during the offseason pointed out his poor numbers away from Coors Field, but his fortunes have changed since joining the Oakland Athletics with better on the road than at home.

 

By Breakdown	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Home	100	14	26	4	1	4	21	15	3	19	.260	.373	.440	.813
Away	105	16	32	6	0	4	16	13	2	16	.305	.392	.476	.868

 

He has been productive with the majority of his at-bats in the cleanup spot.

 

By Batting Order	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Batting #4	192	27	53	9	1	8	36	24	5	33	.276	.371	.458	.829

 

Of course, the one caveat is what the Cardinals would have to give up to get Holliday. Management certainly does not want to mortgage away too much farm talent for a rental. Rick Ankiel is the most likely major league player Oakland may ask for. With Colby Rasmus showing flashes of how good he can be for years to come and Ankiel being a Scott Boras client, Ankiel may not be long for this team anyway. In the meantime, has Tony La Russa considered batting Albert Pujols in the cleanup spot as often as he has mulled over the pros and cons of batting the pitcher eighth? Considering the offensive production, or lack thereof, maybe TLR should give it a try. He has not batted cleanup since May 29, 2003, and his numbers from 2002 up to that point were far better than what we have been getting from cleanup hitters in ’09.

 

2003

By Batting Order	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Batting #4	58	13	21	7	0	2	10	8	1	5	0	0	.362	.435	.586	1.021

 

2002

By Batting Order	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Batting #4	466	97	148	35	0	28	112	68	5	52	.318	.407	.573	.980

 

Of course that would mean lesser likelihood of Pujols batting in the first inning. Who bats in front of Pujols will still be an issue. That move could allow Ludwick to bat third behind Pujols and take the pressure off other possible cleanup hitters by batting fifth. The Cardinals may not have a true cleanup hitter, but they have plenty of fifth-place hitters. It worked for the Giants in 2002 when Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent traded spots in the batting order (where Bonds batted third and Kent fourth for the previous five years), something Cardinals fans know all too well following that year’s National League Championship Series. A similar move is not as radical as batting the pitcher eighth, but it could give this struggling offense a boost.