St. Louis Cardinals: Ranking the top Cardinal “killers” from the 21st century

10. Gary Sheffield: 174 wRC+ (2002-2009)

If you think of all the times you’ve played wiffleball in your backyard, there had to be one time in your life that you impersonated the famous Sheffield bat wiggle. A man with an iconic batting stance also had tremendous numbers versus the St. Louis Cardinals. For his career, Sheffield put up a stat line of .351/.376/.691 against the Redbirds.

While Sheffield was with the Braves for the 2002 and 2003 seasons, he was a force to be reckoned with every single time he stepped foot in the box against our Cardinals. In 2003 alone, he went 10-25 with four homers and eight RBI.

Sheffield continued his dominance against the Redbirds throughout most of his career and even went 6-13 with 2 homers in 2008 in a single series. The man with one of the most recognizable batting stances of all time sure did have the Cardinals number and there is no surprise that he ended up on this list.

9. Bryce Harper: 176 wRC+

Bryce Harper, you either love the guy or you hate him. There really is not much in between it seems from most baseball fans nowadays. Whichever side you choose to be on, there is one thing for certain, this man can crush baseballs. And when it comes to crushing baseballs, he seems to do it exceptionally well against the Cardinals.

Harper sports a career line of .329/.435/.613 against St. Louis and his wRC+ of 176 is actually his highest of any other opponent in the MLB not named the Seattle Mariners. I have no clue what drives him against the Cardinals. Maybe it is the sold-out crowds or maybe that he is just really really good and our pitching strategies just have never worked. Either way, Bryce Harper is a Cardinal killer and I am certain that will not be changing any time soon.

8. Christian Yelich: 177 wRC+

The former Marlins outfielder flew under the radar as one of the most underrated players in the entire league for two years before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers. Yelich really rose to popularity as he was one of the key contributors for Team USA during the 2017 World Baseball Classic where USA came away with the Gold Medal.

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Along with being a gold medalist, he also performs extremely well versus the St. Louis Cardinals.  Yelcih is one of those guys that seems to just get a hit every single time he comes up to the plate during a series. You almost just pray that you just give him four wide and just take our chances with the next guy.

Yelcich owns a gaudy 1.062 OPS against the Cardinals and in 2019 he fared exceptionally well while playing at Miller Park. At home against the Cards in 2019, Yelich posted splits of .469/.614/1.250 with a staggering wRC+ of 334. Christian Yelich is surely a Cardinal killer and the BFIB should not expect anything different for years to come.

7. Brian Giles: 180 wRC+ (2002-2009)

For those who are wondering who Brian Giles was, let me refresh your memory a little bit. Brian Giles was a very consistent right fielder for the Indians, Pirates, and Padres who was also very consistent and had a funky batting stance.

Prior to the 1999 season, Giles was traded to the Pirates for Ricardo Rincon. Giles really broke out into one of the best outfielders in baseball after the trade. From the years 1999-2005, Giles held an average fWAR of 5.8 and over that time, his lowest wRC+ was 127.

For his career against the Cardinals, he posted splits of .341/.453/1.069 in 285 plate appearances. Giles was very consistent and was rarely ever taken out of the lineup because durability was one thing he prided himself on. During his “prime” (1999 season to 2005), he averaged 152 games played and had at least 600 plate appearances in all seven of those seasons.

6. Jedd Gyorko:  181 wRC+

Here comes one player you may not have expected. Fan-favorite Jedd Gyorko comes in on this list as the 6th biggest Cardinals killer in terms of wRC+. Jedd was a very respectable infielder for the Padres and just so happened to have really performed well against St. Louis.

From 2013 to 2015 with the Padres, Gyorko posted a line of .342/.400/.589 against the Cardinals. His success against St. Louis was pretty much evenly spread out among the three seasons with San Diego. For counting stats purposes, 2014 was his most successful career versus the Redbirds. Gyorko hit three homers and drove in 12 in only seven games. He was eventually traded to St. Louis for Jon Jay as I am sure Mozielak was just tired of seeing him kill the Cardinals and would rather have him on our side.

In his inaugural year for St. Louis, he actually started the season as the starting shortstop as Jhonny Peralta was out with an injury. Jedd absolutely was a fan favorite and was a great role player that was always willing to move around the diamond.

T4. Ryan Howard: 184 wRC+

St. Louis native, Ryan Howard, was by far the biggest Cardinal killer that I can personally remember growing up a Cardinals fan. Every single time that big lefty came up, it always seemed like he was driving balls gap to gap and always finding ways around the shift the Cardinals attempted to put on him.

The respect Ryan Howard had from all of Cardinals fans was unlike any other and when he went down with his Achilles injury in the final game of the 2011 NLDS it was a bittersweet moment. You loved that the Cardinals were moving on but you hated seeing one of the best to do it go down with an injury like that.

Of all the players on this list, Howard leads this group in plate appearances against the Cardinals this century with 300. For his career against St. Louis, Ryan Howard posted splits of .331/.433/.649 and his best year against St. Louis was in 2008 where he posted splits of .452/.575/1.065 in 40 plate appearances.

Having an OPS over 1.600 in a single season versus a single opponent is one of the most incredible things I believe I have ever seen.  Ryan Howard was a staple in MVP conversations for many years and enjoyed a very good career where he saw loads of success, especially against our Cardinals.

T4. Manny Machado: 184 wRC+

One of the better players in today’s baseball comes in tied with Ryan Howard at number four. While Howard might leave a more lasting impression against St. Louis, Manny Machado has done plenty to secure his name as a feared hitter while playing anywhere.

Machado, in his career against the Cardinals, has a slash line of .325/.386/.714. What’s even more impressive is that whenever the Cardinals attempt to throw a left-handed pitcher at Machado, his slash line jumps to .571/.625/.929. I am no expert, but I would suggest whatever plan they have for Machado in the future, particularly late in games, I would suggest it involve a heavy dose of right-handed pitching.

Manny Machado is an elite baseball player and may even be a better fielder than he is a hitter. Nevertheless, the St. Louis Cardinals should be extra mindful of pitching to Machado in the coming seasons due to his history of destroying them.

3. Matt Holliday: 200 wRC+

Matt Holliday, in my book, should go down as one of the most underrated/underappreciated stars of all time for the St. Louis Cardinals. This man did everything he could to put the lineup on his back whenever Albert left for Anaheim.

Matt Holliday put up crazy numbers with the Birds on the Bat across his chest. A team now that is starving for a superstar (who puts up superstar numbers, sorry Mr. Goldschmidt) has not seen one since Matt Holliday and his crazy 2012 season. But we are not here to discuss his time with the Cardinals, lets discuss his time against the Cardinals.

Matt Holliday, while with the Rockies, was one of the most feared hitters in all of baseball and he seemed to have proved why every time his name was in the lineup versus St. Louis. For his career, he sported splits of .386/.462/.737 against the Cardinals. However, if you narrow these down to just his time before coming to the Cardinals, his splits turn into .418/.483/.848.

It’s just spectacular what he was capable of doing for Colorado. For all those out there that want to say these stats are inflated because he played his home games at Coors Field, here is a little something for you to chew on.

Matt Holliday had a wRC+ of 263 at Busch Stadium before coming to the Cardinals and had a wRC+ of 197 at home against the Cardinals. 197 is still amazing but that just shows how much better he was while playing in St. Louis. The man was a beast at the plate and somehow is even a better person than he was a baseball player. Matt was always known for giving back to the community and visiting hospitals.

St. Louis misses you Matt Holliday and there will never be another one like you.

2.  Reggie Sanders:  209 wRC+ (2002-2003, 2006)

It seems crazy to me that of the top ten people to lead in wRC+ against the Cardinals, three of them are former Cardinals. Maybe the best scouting there is is to see them perform exceptionally well against you. It makes sense because they cannot hurt you if they are playing for you.

Reggie Sanders was on the tail end of his career when he joined the Pirates for the 2003 season.  During this season, he rejuvenated himself as a threat in the batter’s box, having his best year since 1999 when he played for the Padres. One thing that stands out during his 2003 season is how amazing he was against the division rival St. Louis Cardinals.

During this season he posted splits of .341/.453/.955 with seven homers and 14 RBIs in 14 games. The Cardinals seemed to have liked what they saw from Sanders in the 2003 season as he was signed by the Cardinals in December of 2003.

He played for the Cardinals for two seasons (2004-2005), helping lead the Cardinals to a National League pennant in 2004 as well as helping them reach the postseason in 2005 where he set a record for most RBIs in the NLDS with 10 runs batted in. Reggie Sanders had a sweet swing that came with a sweet smile.

1. Jim Thome:  262 wRC+ (2003-2006)

Lastly, but most certainly not least, James Howard Thome. If you had happened to note the big jump from 209 wRC+ that Sanders had to the staggering 262 wRC+ that Thome has, there is a good reason. When talking about the epitome of “Cardinal killers”, almost certainly this man’s name is going to get brought up. Was he actually way better against St. Louis than we even realized? The answer is and always will be, YES!

The Peoria, Illinois native enjoyed an amazing career and is now enshrined in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame where he was deservingly elected in the 2018 class. Jim Thome, along with being above average against basically everybody, was just a god against St. Louis. From 2003-2006, Thome went 27-64 in 83 plate appearances with 10 homers, 22 RBIs, and 19 walks. Disclaimer: THESE ARE REAL MLB STATS, THESE ARE NOT STATS FROM A SLOW-PITCH SOFTBALL GAME.

During his 2003 season with the Philadelphia Phillies, he actually slugged 1.200 versus the Cardinals in 27 plate appearances. For those who do not quite understand what slugging percentage means, this means that Jim Thome actually averaged more than a single for every at-bat he had against the Cardinals.

Thome turned into a different human while facing the Cardinals and should probably thank the Cardinals pitchers more often for really beefing up that Hall of Fame resume and eventually helping him get pushed into Cooperstown.

There were likely some names on this list that you forgot about, and some that made you cringe to remember. Either way, certain players are always going to have a team’s number and as many teams did with Albert Pujols, sometimes the best answer is just to put up four fingers and focus on the next batter.