QUESTION: After adding Ryan Theriot and Lance Berkman and subtracting Brendan Ryan and Ryan Ludwick, do you buy Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak’s statement that the 2011 Cardinals are “going to be a good defensive club, if not better” than 2010?
BERNIE MIKLASZ
Realistically, I don’t see how the defense could be better in 2011. There isn’t much evidence to suggest that it can be.
These moves are all about boosting the offense. The Cardinals weren't a dazzling team defensively in 2009, either. But (until a late fade) the '09 Cardinals were better hitters than the 2010 Cardinals.
Ryan Theriot may be a superior hitter and teammate than Brendan Ryan was, but that won’t do much for a ground-ball pitching staff accustomed to having Ryan cover a wide left-side swath of infield. I don’t think Theriot is hopeless or terrible at shortstop; at his best he’s slightly above average. And there’s a chance Theriot will improve after working with coach Jose Oquendo, who made David Eckstein a better SS. But Theriot simply doesn’t have Ryan’s range. The Cardinals already are mediocre defensively at 2B, but will be OK at 3B if David Freese settles back in at the position.
As for Berkman in the corner outfield, the truth is he wasn’t very good out there in his younger and healthier days. He’s giving himself a chance by working hard to lose weight and improve his conditioning, but it’s difficult to reverse the clock and play younger and faster again. To me it’s also a question of viability; how will Berkman’s knees hold up after so many innings and so much running around? Legit questions. But given the fine quality of defense the Cardinals received in RF last season, there will be a dropoff in 2011 if Berkman is placed there. Or a decline in LF and RF if Matt Holliday moves to right.
Berkman will have to produce a lot of offense to compensate for that. And Colby Rasmus had a disappointing season defensively in CF last season. He’ll have to be better in 2011 because his job has gotten a lot more challenging.
DERRICK GOOLD
Good is relative. The Cardinals will field five players who were minus-fielders last season, and that’s a concern for any team, let alone one that relies so heavily on enticing soft contact and balls in play. There’s a reason why the Cardinals are the only team in the majors with at least 1,800 assists in each of the previous three seaosns – they get more grounders than any other team, and it is a tenet of their pitching philosophy.
The Cardinals will be “good” defensively, as Mozeliak suggests, if they are more consistent defensively. That includes decision-making and routine play-making. Both were lacking for stretches of last season. This team can be a more consistent defensive club than 2010. But it won’t be as dynamic defensively. There’s no whiz in the infield, not like Brendan Ryan. The Cardinals candidly acknowledge that Lance Berkman is “a question” in the outfield after so many seasons removed from the range.
The Cardinals are trading on their defense for offense, and that’s not unusual. They’ll give up some Web Gems (and, yes, some runs saved) in exchange for more runs scored. It’s unlikely that the defense will better. But the team might be.
JEFF GORDON
I can’t imagine the Cardinals having a better defensive team with Berkman in right field. Ludwick played Gold Glove-caliber ball out there before departing and Jon Jay covered a lot of ground. Randy Winn wasn’t much of a fielder – parking himself back near the warning track – but Allen Craig got some decent jumps on the ball. So this Berkman experiment will be fascinating. Theriot sounds energized by the challenge of playing short again, so I expect him to give max effort there. Schumaker should improve, too, just on his massive effort. But the right field thing should concern Cards fans.
LARRY BOROWSKY (Founder of Viva El Birdos and editor of “Maple Street Press Cardinals Annual”)
In a word: No. That’s obviously just spin from Mozeliak. He should simply admit the obvious – the team is betting that the boost in offense will outweigh the dropoff in defense. By the way, it’s a myth that the 2010 Cardinals were a bad defensive club. They were almost identical to the 2009 club in defensive efficiency rating, unearned runs allowed, and number of errors and double plays. The 2011 defense will be worse; that’s a cost the team has accepted in its search for better offense and clubhouse chemistry.
