Hitting Analysis- 2013 St. Louis Cardinals- Are They Patient or Aggressive?
Let’s take a look at the Cardinals from 2013 and decide if they are a team that looks at a lot of pitches, swings freely, fouls off pitches and if they hit them on the ground or in the air most of the time.
Matt Adams- Matt registered 319 plate appearances and watched 1343 pitches. Of those he swung at 589 of them for 44%. He took 754 pitches for a 56% ratio. At the plate he saw 233 strikes and 521 balls. He swung and missed 143 times and fouled off 230 pitches and put 216 in play.
Conclusion: On the average he saw 4.21 pitches per plate appearance which registers as very patient at the plate. He hit 96 ground balls and 42 line drives along with 78 fly balls. He is not known as a fly ball hitter or a ground ball hitter but comes in as medium.
Carlos Beltran– Carlos had 600 plate appearances on the season in which he saw 2181 pitches. He took 1168 of them and swung at 1013 of them for a 46% swinging rate. At the plate he watched 359 strikes and 809 balls from the pitchers. He missed on 190 pitches while fouling off 352 and put 471 in play.
Conclusion: Carlos saw 3.64 pitches per plate appearance and is noted as a very aggressive hitter. He hit 165 ground balls and 112 line drives but hoisted 192 in the air. This qualifies him as a Fly Ball Hitter.
Matt Carpenter- Carpenter went to the plate for 717 appearances in which he viewed 2954 pitches. Of those, he took 1854 of them for 63% pitches watched. He swung at 1100 of the pitches thrown to him. Of all the pitches viewed, 717 were strikes and 1137 were called balls. He swung and missed at 128 and fouled off 434 pitches. He put in play 538 of the pitches he saw.
Conclusion: Matt Carpenter watched 4.12 pitches per plate appearances and is labeled as a very patient hitter. He smacked 206 ground balls, 145 line drives and 181 fly balls. Also, this designates him as a FLY BALL hitter.
Allen Craig– Craig had 563 plate appearances in which he saw 2134 pitches. He put 413 in play while hitting 376 foul balls and 177 pitches that he swung at and missed. He watched 775 pitches called a ball and 393 strikes. He took 1168 pitches and swung at 996.
Conclusion: Craig is considered a ground ball hitter as he put 186 to the ground, 111 line drives and 116 in the air as fly balls. He saw 3.79 pitches per plate appearance and is placed in the neutral category.
Tony Cruz– Cruz is a ground ball hitter as he put up 27 fly balls, 18 line drives and 53 grounders in 2013 in which he viewed 3.56 pitchers per at bat. This labels him as a very aggressive hitter.
He watched 459 pitches in 129 at bats. He took 225 pitches while swinging at 234 of them. He took 77 strikes and 146 strikes. Of those, he swung and missed at 47 pitches, fouled off 89 and put 98 in play.
Daniel Descalso- Daniel had 358 plate appearances in which he saw 1271 pitches. 215 of them were called strikes and 451 were balls from the ones he let go by. He took 666 pitches and swung at 605 which is pretty even. He swung and missed at 111 and fouled of 217 pitches along with putting 277 in play.
Conclusion: Descalso saw 3.55 pitches per plate appearance and is labeled as a very aggressive hitter. He hit 130 ground balls, 49 line drives and 94 fly balls which makes him primarily a ground ball hitter.
David Freese- Freese is a ground ball hitter as he hit 198 on the ground, 75 line drives and 86 ground balls. He saw 3.88 pitches per at ball and is a neutral type hitter. He saw 2033 pitches in which he swung and missed 207, fouled off 358 and put in play 359 pitches.
Matt Holliday-Holliday had 602 plate appearances in which he saw 2236 pitches. He took 1126 pitches and swung at 1107 of them. He saw 276 strikes and 853 balls in his at bats.
Conclusion: He saw 3.71 pitches per at bat and hit 200 ground balls and 147 fly balls with 91 line drives mixed in to be considered a neutral type hitter.
John Jay- Batting Avg: 0.274 [150 / 548]
BABIP: 0.326 : FIP: 3.348 : K%: 0.16 : BB%: 0.07
138 Groundout, 114 Single, 101 Strikeout, 62 Flyout, 45 Walk, 42 Lineout, 27 Double, 14 Hit By Pitch, 13 Grounded Into DP, 12 Pop Out, 12 Forceout, 9 Sac Bunt, 8 Field Error, 7 Home Run, 7 Intent Walk, 4 Sac Fly, 2 Bunt Lineout, 2 Strikeout – DP, 2 Fielders Choice Out, 2 Triple, 1 Bunt Groundout, 1 Runner Out, 1 Double Play, 1 Bunt Pop Out, 1 Fielders Choice, 1 Sac Fly DP
Conclusion: Jay is considered a groundball hitter and is very aggressive at the plate.
Pete Kozma- Batting Avg: 0.217 [89 / 410]
BABIP: 0.277 : FIP: 2.357 : K%: 0.20 : BB%: 0.06
91 Strikeout, 81 Groundout, 68 Single, 62 Flyout, 35 Pop Out, 29 Lineout, 26 Walk, 20 Double, 8 Intent Walk, 7 Forceout, 6 Grounded Into DP, 3 Field Error, 3 Sac Fly, 2 Runner Out, 2 Double Play, 2 Fielders Choice Out, 2 Bunt Groundout, 1 Fielders Choice, 1 Home Run, 1 Sac Bunt
Conclusion– Kozma is labeled as a very aggressive hitter that saw 3.62 pitches per at bat but is considered medium as to flyballs or groundballs.
Yadier Molina- Batting Avg: 0.317 [160 / 505]
BABIP: 0.338 : FIP: 4.288 : K%: 0.10 : BB%: 0.05
117 Groundout, 105 Single, 74 Flyout, 55 Strikeout, 43 Double, 42 Lineout, 28 Pop Out, 26 Walk, 14 Grounded Into DP, 12 Home Run, 9 Forceout, 6 Field Error, 4 Intent Walk, 3 Sac Fly, 3 Hit By Pitch
Conclusion: He saw 3.48 pitches per at bat and is a very aggressive medium type hitter.
Shane Robinson- Batting Avg: 0.252 [36 / 143]
BABIP: 0.274 : FIP: 4.885 : K%: 0.10 : BB%: 0.14
41 Groundout, 31 Single, 23 Walk, 22 Flyout, 17 Strikeout, 12 Lineout, 9 Pop Out, 4 Sac Fly, 2 Double, 2 Grounded Into DP, 2 Forceout, 2 Home Run, 1 Field Error, 1 Triple, 1 Double Play
Conclusion: Shane is an aggressive hitter than saw 3.74 pitches per at bat that puts it on the ground most of the time.
The Cardinals are an aggressive team at bat and most be very few pitches. They are a mixture of groundball and flyball hitters though.
