Cardinals middle infield can pick it like none other

The St. Louis Cardinals welcomed JJ Wetherholt back for the first year player to make his final push towards the NL Rookie of the Year award. While his offense has not been to the same level as his competition, his glovework has gotten him plenty of recognition on WAR leaderboards.

His defense may not be enough to take home the award, but what he and shortstop Masyn Winn have done up the middle this year is nothing to scoff at. Wetherholt made the transition from shortstop to second base during his time in the minors and the transition has gone as smooth as possible. Combined with Winn, the double-play duo has put together some of the best defense in modern baseball history.

Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt have played elite level defense for the Cardinals

The Cardinals offense has been one of the worst-performing groups this season but the team will still finish well above preseason expectations. Even with the first four hitters in the lineup looking to be quality options for the future, the Cardinals rank 25th in offensive value and 22nd in position player fWAR on the year. Their 94 wRC+ shows the group is 6% below league average and when taking away the performances of Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker, the bats become slightly more concerning.

As the young Cardinals lineup gains more experience, the hope is that the offense will begin to trend in the right direction. What the organization already knows for certain, though, is that they are set on defense for the foreseeable future. Hat tip to Dani Wexelman for doing the research as the Cardinals on-field reporter found that the combo of Winn and Wetherholt have set a new standard for middle infield defense. With less than five games to play, Wexelman pointed that the St. Louis double play combo has added the most defensive value to their team this year by a wide margin.

To take Wexelman's research a step further, I looked at just how good this Cardinals' middle infield has been compared to year's past. To lead the league for one season in a category is impressive in and of itself, but measuring out as the best as far back as the data goes is another story. While the double play tandem is destroying their defensive competition this season, the metrics they are putting up is historic. Going back to 2016, the 42 Fielding Run Value that the Cardinals middle infield has combined to put up is at the top of the record board.

Among all defensive players, Wetherholt and Winn sit second and third on the individual FRV leaderboard just behind the likely MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong. When the filter is changed to just infielders, they lead the group by a solid margin and are 15 points better than the next best team duo. In football, the saying is that defense wins championships. In baseball, you still have to be able to score more runs than the other team and have a pitching staff to support you. In total, the Cardinals have been missing all three parts working together at the same time but things are moving in the right direction. If Winn and Wetherholt can progress to league-average or better bats, the Cardinals will have the most valuable middle infield in all of baseball.

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