Behind the numbers

Baseball fans across the state had plenty to cheer about a month ago.

In the season’s second week, I wrote about the fast start for the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. Hopes have subsided a bit for the Royals since then, but the Cardinals went into Wednesday night’s clash with Colorado with the second-best record in the majors.

Are the Cardinals the real thing? I think so.

Entering Wednesday’s game, the Cards held the fifth-best team batting average (.281) and were fourth in the league in hits (325). Some critics say that St. Louis doesn’t have enough power to keep up its streaking ways over the long run.

The Cardinals are in the lower half of the majors in home runs with 24, but 78 doubles (tied for second in MLB) suggests the power numbers should trend upward as the temperatures climb this summer.

Furthermore, the offense is running a little more. The Cards finished almost dead last with just 56 stolen bases in 2007. Through their first 34 games this year, the Redbirds have swiped 11 bases. St. Louis had only 24 stolen bases at the All-Star break last season and should easily top that mark this year.

Oh, and did I mention that the Redbirds are the best in baseball with a .373 on base percentage. That means the Cards are getting on more, hitting better and showing signs of better baserunning and power — all things that indicate St. Louis is for real.

The patchwork pitching staff is more than getting the job done more than a month into the season. St. Louis sports a 3.59 ERA, sixth in baseball. Some of the key numbers indicate that the team’s “fill-in” pitchers have listened to pitching coach Dave Duncan.

The Cardinals have issued only 101 walks, making them the fifth-stingiest team to give up free passes. A lot of the guys in the current rotation don’t have overpowering stuff, which is proven by the team’s 20th standing in strikeouts.

Nonetheless, guys like today’s starter Kyle Lohse have posted solid numbers by locating their pitches and not giving up the big hits. Lohse has allowed just one home run — which came in his last start when he gave up eight runs in six innings against Chicago.

And just to clear up one more myth surrounding the Cardinals — they’re not that young. According to on-air talent Dan McLaughlin, the team is actually older than the 2007 squad.

Youthfulness isn’t a myth for the Royals, which is the main reason the team is so streaky. The Royals won six of their first eight games, but a seven-game losing streak in mid-April put the boys in powder blue behind the .500 mark.

Kansas City has since played about .500 ball heading into Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.

The pitching staff has been the key to both the highs and lows. Gil Meche has simply been a mess on the mound and Brian Bannister’s promising start has faded with four straight losses. Zack Greinke has been phenomenal while Brett Tomko and Luke Hochevar have been solid. 

If the Royals can get to the ninth with the lead, fans should feel comfortable. Joakim Soria still hasn’t allowed a run in 13 innings of work. He’s scattered three hits and walked one while striking out 15 during that time.

The young offense is still learning how to hit major league pitching. Kansas City is dead last in MLB in runs scored (110) and RBIs (106) and is tied for last in home runs (16) with Minnesota. The Royals are also near the bottom in batting average, slugging and on base percentage.

Those young hitters should start to produce more as the season progresses, so the team’s success will still hinge on how well the staff can hold together.

I still think the Royals should be near .500 when the season is over.