St. Louis Cardinals: Top five batting seasons of the decade

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 18: Luis Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 18, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 7-3. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 18: Luis Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 18, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 7-3. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
ST. LOUIS, MO – JUNE 23: Aledmys Diaz #36 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws to first base against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second inning at Busch Stadium on June 23, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO – JUNE 23: Aledmys Diaz #36 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws to first base against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second inning at Busch Stadium on June 23, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Yadier Molina, C, 2012 – 563 PA, .315/.373/.501, 22 HR, 9.8 K%, 137 OPS+

Yadi had the best offensive season of his career in 2012, en route to a 4th place MVP finish. He set his career-high in home runs, as well as OPS+. He basically never struck out and that turned out to work pretty dang well for him.

Allen Craig, 1B/OF, 2012 – 514 PA, .307/.354/.522, 35 doubles, 22 HR, 137 OPS+

Craig was Jose Martinez before Jose Martinez. The dynamic bench bat got his shot at a full-time starter and thrived in 2012. The “RBI Machine” had an incredibly successful three year stretch with the team before fading into obscurity following a 2014 trade to Boston.

Aledmys Diaz, SS, 2016 – 460 PA, .300/.369/.510, 48 XBH, 134 OPS+

Following an injury to incumbent shortstop, Jhonny Peralta, prior to the 2016 season, the little known Cuban import put up an All-Star performance in his rookie year. Diaz looked like the answer to the long-running shortstop issues in St. Louis before struggling to start 2017 and was eventually replaced by Paul DeJong.