Notes on a Scorecard: Tough Weekend in KC?
Good afternoon.
The Royals are playing well. Cardinals fans tend to get snotty about the Royals, which is fine. But I just try to analyze the actual baseball.
And I don’t think the Royals’ sweep of the Cardinals last week was a fluke, and I don’t think the Cardinals should expect to have an easy time of it in KC this weekend.
The Royals are 12-3 in Interleague play this season, tied with Minnesota for the best record. Against NL teams, they’re batting .281 and have a 3.48 ERA.
This Pujols fellow should help. He’s batting .394 in his career against the Royals.
After losing 12 straight near the end of May, the Royals have gone 15-9, including 10 wins in last 11 games. Over those 24 games, KC starting pitchers are 12-3 with a 3.79 ERA.
This weekend the Cardinals will see:
- Gil Meche, who has a 3.62 ERA in his last eight starts. His career record in Interleague games is 12-4.
- Kyle Davies, who is 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA since being called up from the minors.
- Brian Bannister, who is 5-2 with a 2.48 ERA at home this season. Also, Sunday is an afternoon game, and Bannister loves the sunlight; he’s 5-1 with a 3.29 ERA in day ball.
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Royals outfielder David DeJesus leads the majors in batting average with runners in scoring position, .451.
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The Cardinals are hitting better on the road than at home.
At home, they’re averaging 4.18 runs per game, which ranks 23rd in the majors.
On the road, they’re averaging 5.13 runs per game, which rankes 4th in the bigs.
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The Cardinals would be lost without the contributions of Ryan Ludwick, but he enters the weekend with only two hits in his last 27 ABs. Ludwick didn’t take to the No. 3 spot in the lineup during The Mang’s stint on the DL. As a No. 3 hitter, Ludwick batted .188 with a .286 OBP and a .313 SLG.
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The Royals will start three RHP this weekend, and that’s good news for Rick Ankiel, who has two hits in 32 ABs vs. LHP since May 15.
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Same for Skip Schumaker, who has gone hitless in his last 17 ABs vs. LHP. Schumaker continues to rake against the righthanders. He’s batting .350 against them this season; in the majors only Chipper Jones (.385) and Lance Berkman (.361) are hitting for a higher BA vs. RHP.
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The Royals’ menu of RH pitching gives Chris Duncan another opportunity to get something going. He’s 7 for 44 since his recall from Memphis, and since the end of April, Duncan is batting .190 with a .267 OBP and .276 SLG in 116 plate appearances.
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Interleague baseball began in 1997.
Guess who has the best batting average in the history of Interleague play – minimum 200 ABs?
That would be Cardinals infielder Aaron Miles, who is 78 for 212, for a BA of .368.
No. 2?
Pujols, .351.
Weird…
Enjoy the baseball…
-B
Would there be justification in letting Schumaker and Barton platoon in the leadoff spot? The majority of starters are righties, so Skip would still get the bulk of the playing time. But they would seem to complement each other well as similar styles of hitters from opposite sides of the plate.