St. Louis Cardinals: 30 worst players in team history

Aug 20, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Daniel Descalso (33) falls onto Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart (2) to complete the double play during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

#29 Daniel Descalso

Daniel Descalso played for the Cardinals from 2010-2014. Ahhh Descalso, the player we all loved to hate over the past few years, the player who should have been cut from the team long before he was. While my disdain for Descalso may be slightly biased. There is a lot of statistical value behind why Descalso was bad as a Cardinal.

In his 529 games, Descalso slashed .243/.313/.341 over parts of five seasons, playing all over the field for the Cardinals. Descalso was just not good at really any part of the game, despite his “close and late” nickname given to him by the broadcasters, because of a few lucky hits as a pinch hitter.

Descalso’s offensive slash line is not the only not so great offensive numbers for his career, as the utility infielder managed to be worth -23 runs above average on offense over his five seasons.

Not only was Descalso not good on offense, he was not very good defensively either, despite his versatility. This is told not only in his -14.2 defensive runs above average, but also in UZR as he totaled negative UZR totals at almost every position he played for the Cardinals.

What makes Descalso 29th on this list and not higher is his 7.6 runs above average on the base paths, which is better than any other player on this list.

Descalso was a case of a player being extremely cheap to keep around. He should have been replaced a lot earlier, but he was not and thus Descalso posted declining fWAR over his career as he continually got overexposed.

What I will remember the most about Descalso is his clutch hitting in the 2011 World Series, to help  the Cardinals win Game 6 and coming through the very next year in 2012 with a hit in the Cardinals comeback against the Nationals.

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