Following my post on La Russa’s lineups, there was discussion about the Cardinals opposing left-handed pitchers. I decided to take a look at both the frequency and the results of the club when facing lefties during the La Russa era.
Here are the details:
vs. LHS | Home W | Home L | Home W % | Road W | Road L | Road W % | Total W | Total L | Total W % | % LHS |
2008 | 16 | 10 | 61.5% | 11 | 19 | 36.7% | 27 | 29 | 48.2% | 34.6% |
2007 | 13 | 13 | 50.0% | 16 | 14 | 53.3% | 29 | 27 | 51.8% | 34.6% |
2006 | 14 | 16 | 46.7% | 9 | 18 | 33.3% | 23 | 34 | 40.4% | 35.4% |
2005 | 13 | 11 | 54.2% | 19 | 9 | 67.9% | 32 | 20 | 61.5% | 32.1% |
2004 | 15 | 7 | 68.2% | 11 | 6 | 64.7% | 26 | 13 | 66.7% | 24.1% |
2003 | 12 | 6 | 66.7% | 7 | 11 | 38.9% | 19 | 17 | 52.8% | 22.2% |
2002 | 11 | 7 | 61.1% | 10 | 9 | 52.6% | 21 | 16 | 56.8% | 22.8% |
2001 | 10 | 5 | 66.7% | 6 | 10 | 37.5% | 16 | 15 | 51.6% | 19.1% |
2000 | 11 | 9 | 55.0% | 6 | 14 | 30.0% | 17 | 23 | 42.5% | 24.7% |
1999 | 7 | 13 | 35.0% | 10 | 16 | 38.5% | 17 | 29 | 37.0% | 28.6% |
1998 | 13 | 13 | 50.0% | 13 | 9 | 59.1% | 26 | 22 | 54.2% | 29.6% |
1997 | 12 | 8 | 60.0% | 9 | 9 | 50.0% | 21 | 17 | 55.3% | 23.5% |
1996 | 9 | 11 | 45.0% | 9 | 7 | 56.3% | 18 | 18 | 50.0% | 22.2% |
total | 156 | 129 | 54.7% | 136 | 151 | 47.4% | 292 | 280 | 51.0% | 27.2% |
average | 12.0 | 9.9 | 10.5 | 11.6 | 22.5 | 21.5 |
On the average over the last 13 years, the Cardinals’ opponents sent out left-handed starters against them just over a quarter of the time, 27.2%. However, that mark has steadily grown such that over the last four years, well over one third of the enemy pitchers threw from that side.
In total, the Cardinals have won 51% of their games against lefties. That improves to almost 55% at home, though there are wild swings from year to year.
For comparison, let’s look at the Cards results against right-handed pitchers.
vs. RHS | Home W | Home L | Home W % | Road W | Road L | Road W % | Total W | Total L | Total W % |
2008 | 30 | 25 | 54.5% | 29 | 22 | 56.9% | 59 | 47 | 55.7% |
2007 | 30 | 25 | 54.5% | 19 | 32 | 37.3% | 49 | 57 | 46.2% |
2006 | 35 | 15 | 70.0% | 25 | 29 | 46.3% | 60 | 44 | 57.7% |
2005 | 37 | 20 | 64.9% | 31 | 22 | 58.5% | 68 | 42 | 61.8% |
2004 | 38 | 21 | 64.4% | 41 | 23 | 64.1% | 79 | 44 | 64.2% |
2003 | 36 | 27 | 57.1% | 30 | 33 | 47.6% | 66 | 60 | 52.4% |
2002 | 41 | 22 | 65.1% | 35 | 27 | 56.5% | 76 | 49 | 60.8% |
2001 | 44 | 23 | 65.7% | 33 | 31 | 51.6% | 77 | 54 | 58.8% |
2000 | 39 | 22 | 63.9% | 39 | 22 | 63.9% | 78 | 44 | 63.9% |
1999 | 31 | 29 | 51.7% | 27 | 28 | 49.1% | 58 | 57 | 50.4% |
1998 | 35 | 21 | 62.5% | 22 | 36 | 37.9% | 57 | 57 | 50.0% |
1997 | 29 | 32 | 47.5% | 23 | 40 | 36.5% | 52 | 72 | 41.9% |
1996 | 39 | 22 | 63.9% | 31 | 34 | 47.7% | 70 | 56 | 55.6% |
total | 464 | 304 | 60.4% | 385 | 379 | 50.4% | 849 | 683 | 55.4% |
average | 35.7 | 23.4 | 29.6 | 29.2 | 65.3 | 52.5 |
As one would expect, the club has delivered better results against right-handers overall, with a 55.4% success rate over time, including over 60% at home and still just over 50% on the road.
Now, we’ll put a summary of the results side-by-side.
LHS | RHS | ||
% LHS | Total W % | Total W % | |
2008 | 34.6% | 48.2% | 55.7% |
2007 | 34.6% | 51.8% | 46.2% |
2006 | 35.4% | 40.4% | 57.7% |
2005 | 32.1% | 61.5% | 61.8% |
2004 | 24.1% | 66.7% | 64.2% |
2003 | 22.2% | 52.8% | 52.4% |
2002 | 22.8% | 56.8% | 60.8% |
2001 | 19.1% | 51.6% | 58.8% |
2000 | 24.7% | 42.5% | 63.9% |
1999 | 28.6% | 37.0% | 50.4% |
1998 | 29.6% | 54.2% | 50.0% |
1997 | 23.5% | 55.3% | 41.9% |
1996 | 22.2% | 50.0% | 55.6% |
average | 27.2% | 51.0% | 55.4% |
Years | LHS | RHS | |
advantage | 5 | 8 | |
> 50% W | 9 | 11 | |
> 60% W | 2 | 4 | |
> 66% W | 1 | 0 |
Interestingly, the success against right-handers isn’t a consistent thing. In five of the 13 seasons in this period, the Cardinals actually had a higher win rate against lefties than they did against righties, including three of the last six seasons.
What do you make of that?
In the National League Central in 2009, current projected rotations for the Cardinals’ five opponents include eight left-handers. That equates to just under one-third (8/25 = 32%). The Pirates lead the way with three, while the Reds, like the Cardinals, have an all right-handed starting staff.
NL Central | LH starters | ’08 W/L vs. StL | ’08 ERA | Win % | Career vs. StL | Car StL ERA | Win % |
Houston | Wandy Rodriguez | 1-2 | 1.11 | 2-6 | 4.08 | ||
Mike Hampton | DNF | 10-8 | 3.71 | ||||
Milwaukee | Manny Parra | 0-0 | 4.50 | 0-0 | 3.77 | ||
Chicago | Ted Lilly | 3-0 | 3.06 | 6-2 | 2.99 | ||
Sean Marshall | 1-0 | 0.82 | 2-1 | 3.38 | |||
Pittsburgh | Paul Maholm | 2-1 | 3.05 | 3-3 | 2.64 | ||
Zach Duke | 0-2 | 5.25 | 2-4 | 4.27 | |||
Tom Gorzelanny | 0-1 | 5.73 | 1-3 | 3.82 | |||
Cincinnati | none | ||||||
total | 7-6 | 3.14 | 0.538 | 26-27 | 3.59 | 0.491 |
While their aggregate won-loss record, whether for 2008 or over their careers, against St. Louis is roughly .500, note the solid ERAs. These eight lefties held the Cardinals offense to just over three runs per nine innings last year and slightly more than 3.5 over their careers.
Related articles:
“La Russa’s lineups – a historical view”
“Trends in Cardinals left-handed and switch hitters”