Cardinals’ Lead-off Position Benefits from Veteran Presence

The St. Louis Cardinals’ season has been nothing short of a disaster so far, but a veteran presence at the top of the line-up has seemed to ignite the offense.

Carpenter is at Home at Top of the Lineup

Matt Carpenter has been one of the best Cardinals’ lead-off hitters ever. No, he doesn’t have the speed of a Lou Brock or Vince Coleman, but that’s not his game. His has always been getting on base, which is the most important job of a lead-off man. There have been 23 players to log 1,000 plate appearances in the lead-off position for St. Louis. Carpenter ranks in the top three in nearly every important offensive category.

The Cardinals have won two in a row since Carpenter was moved to lead-off. He got on base four times in 11 plate appearances. Additionally, he drove in two runs and scored one. He’s probably not the answer for the entire season, but at this point, Cardinal fans will take what they can get.

Cardinals’ Lead-off Woes

So far this season, the Cardinals’ lead-off men were 27th among 30 MLB teams with a paltry .204 batting average and 29th in OBP at .277. Something needed to change, and for now, it seems Carpenter is the man for the job.

The Cardinals clearly needed a better on base percentage at the top of the lineup, and Marmol made a rare good call by putting Carpenter in the lead-off position in the lineup.

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