This embarrassing comparison puts the Cardinals' RISP struggles into perspective

Bases loaded, two outs, Cardinals down by a run. Who would you rather have up to bat? 2024 Paul Goldschmidt, 2024 Nolan Arenado, or 2021 Jake Woodford? It sounds like a ridiculous question, but there's a genuine case to be made that Jake Woodford, a failed Cardinals starting pitcher would have a better shot than two future Hall-of-Famers. How did we get here? Let's dive into it.

This past weekend in Toronto, the St. Louis Cardinals went 2-for-27 with runners in scoring position. If that sounds bad, that's because it is. Despite a small-ish sample size, that's a .074 batting average. Not only was their average historically bad, but both of their hits with RISP were singles (meaning they also slugged .074), including a 68.6 mph bloop off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt that failed to score a run. Of course, with such a horrid batting line, the Cardinals only scored seven runs and were unceremoniously swept by the fifth-place Blue Jays. But just how bad is this batting average?

As the self-proclaimed president of the two-way player fan club, I wanted to compare the Cardinals this weekend to the batting lines of pitchers from 2021, the last season without the universal DH. The results were shocking.

First, I looked at Cardinals pitchers and their batting lines. Collectively, the group batted .095 with an OPS+ of -20, quite a sizeable difference compared to the .074 that actual professional hitters recorded this weekend. Eight St. Louis pitchers recorded a higher average in 2021 than the Cardinals lineup with RISP last weekend. Adam Wainwright, Kwang-Hyun Kim, Jack Flaherty, Carlos Martinez, Jon Lester, Johan Oviedo, Jake Woodford, and Dakota Hudson. That's just about every pitcher to make a start, and includes everyone who recorded more than 20 plate appearances.

Next, I looked at the numbers of pitchers throughout MLB. Collectively, all pitchers batted .108, slightly better than the Cardinals. While that does include the handful of at-bats Shohei Ohtani took as a pitcher in 2021, it also includes hundreds of other pitchers who stepped into the box simply laying down a sacrifice bunt or feebly swinging and missing at pitches they never had a chance of hitting. And yet, somehow it was better than the Cardinals lineup last weekend with RISP.

This is a lineup anchored by two future Hall of Famers and several promising young hitters. On paper, there shouldn't be any easy outs besides Michael Siani in center field. Of course, this season hasn't gone the way the Cardinals had hoped offensively, but can it be this bad? As the fanbase calls for Miles Mikolas to be DFA'ed and give the Triple-A arms to prove themselves, maybe they should consider a different role for him. Maybe Mikolas (.127 career average) can find himself as the pinch hitter the Cardinals use in high-leverage situations.