St. Louis Cardinals: 30 worst players in team history

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

#12 Ken Reitz 3B

Here we have a player, that on paper doesn’t seem too bad. He slashed .263/.292/.369 throughout his career as a Cardinal and had 454 RBI in eight seasons with the Cardinals. Seems like a not so bad career. He wasn’t a great by any means, but he wasn’t “that bad” right? Wrong. While his average may not be that bad, his .292 OBP is way below average.

Reitz like Charlie James, was really bad at figuring pitchers out as is evident by his 3.5% walk rate through his career. Reitz’ offensive value was really bad, and that is what gets him on this list. Through his 11oo games, Reitz was worth -103.1 runs above average. Unlike some on this list, Reitz didn’t offer much defensively or on the base paths in his career.

Defensively, Reitz was worth just 1.7 runs above average throughout his eight seasons with the club. His base running runs above average didn’t help him either, as he was worth -2.9 BsR. Reitz’ best season came in 1971, when he hit .270/.300/.379 with a wRC+ of 86, which is not good, a .300 OBP and .379 SLG is still well below average, as is his 86 wRC+.

While Reitz’ may have had a decent average over his career, taking into his whole package is what puts him on this list. It must have been a hard team to watch in the 1970s, with players like Reitz and Melendez playing a factor.

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