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

The St. Louis Cardinals had an incredibly successful decade in the 2010s. Who were the best hitters over that fruitful stretch?

St. Louis Cardinals fans are about as spoiled as a sports fanbase can be; success to us is relative. Many fans spent the past four seasons with (somewhat) reasonable frustration after a three-year playoff drought. Even this year when the team made it to the NLCS, fans were unhappy.

In this decade, the Cardinals still accomplished more than just about any team in baseball. This stretch includes six playoff births, one World Series, one 100-win season, and ten winning seasons in ten years.

Despite being known for their trademark pitching staff, the Redbirds have had some fantastic hitters over the last decade. They may have lost their best player so far this century after the first year of the decade, but big seasons came from other batters along the way too.

For the sake of the article, I’ll only include one season from players, otherwise, the list would be basically “Matt Holliday‘s stats from the 2010s.”

I will also not be factoring in defense, so it is based solely on what they did at the plate. So, as we look back over the last decade, what were the five best hitting seasons Cardinals fans got to watch?

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.

Matt Carpenter, 2B, 2013 – 717 PA, .318/.392/.481, 55 doubles, 11 HR, 199 hits, 126 runs, 140 OPS+

Matt Carpenter has almost a two-part section here. His progression as a hitter from when he first came up to the present day paints a picture of a drastically different hitter.

As some say, “doubles Carp” broke out the season prior in limited at bats, but 2013 he really showed what he was capable of. He led the league in doubles, hits, and runs, cementing himself as one of the elite hitters in baseball. The key cog to the lineup on the 2013 pennant-winning team, he helped fill the void left by a certain superstar, who (probably) will come up later.

Matt Carpenter, 3B, 2018 – 677 PA, .257/.374/.523, 42 doubles, 36 HR, 15.1 BB%, 143 OPS+

As a beneficiary to the “launch angle revolution”, Carpenter turned some of that doubles power into long balls. For some odd reason, many fans remember his brutal stretches in April and September, and not the good times. He was one of, if not the, best hitter in baseball from May 1st until August 31st, posting an MVP-like 1.051 OPS over that stretch, while also hitting 33 of his 36 homers that year in that time.

Tommy Pham, LF, 2017 – 530 PA, .306/.411/.520, 23 HR, 25 SB, 144 OPS+

Pham started the 2017 season in AAA (much to his dismay) and didn’t get his first plate appearance until May, but he still makes the list. Joining the 20/20 club in his first season as a starter, Pham became an important figure in the lineup, but just as polarizing off the field for his outspoken nature.

I, personally, found his personality to be refreshing, speaking his mind when he felt necessary. But he struck a nerve with a lot of other fans. After struggling to start the 2018 season, he was shipped to Tampa Bay for a (so far) underwhelming return, as he continues to tear it up in Florida.

Matt Holliday, LF, 2010, – 675 PA, .312/.390/.532, 45 doubles, 28 HR, 149 OPS+

Holliday was traded to St. Louis during the 2009 season and signed a club-record contract (until Paul Goldschmidt in 2019) for seven years following that season. He was worth every penny.

Holliday was remarkably consistent during his tenure in St. Louis, with his peak coming in his first full season with the team in 2010. He topped 40 doubles and was the Robin to Pujols’ Batman that season, but took over the lineup anchor after 2011 when Pujols left.

Albert Pujols, 1B, 2010 – 700 PA, .312/.414/.596, 39 doubles, 42 HR, 115 runs, 103/76 BB/K, 14 SB, 173 OPS+

Pujols easily posted the best offensive season of the decade in St. Louis, not much deliberation was needed. His entire career is too pretty to put into words and 2010 was his last truly elite season. He was still an incredible hitter in 2011, but he wasn’t what he was for the prior ten years.

Pujols showed every trait you could possibly want in a hitter.

Pujols hit over .300, had an OBP over .400, and tallied 81 extra-base hits. Walked more than he struck out. Heck, he even stole 14 bases and led the entire MLB in runs scored. His 1.011 OPS on the year netted him a second-place MVP finish only behind Joey Votto and his .424 OBP and .600 slugging percentage.

“The Machine” truly was built in a factory designed to hit a baseball.

In all, the St. Louis Cardinals were one of the few teams to have winning seasons for the entirety of the 2010s. There were amazing moments, heroes that won’t be forgotten, and one ring. As we move into the 2020s, there is plenty more fun to be had.