Closing the Cardinals books on Ludwick

Traded outfielder Ryan Ludwick had been one of St. Louis’ top two offensive leaders since his 2007 arrival.

Ryan Ludwick (AP Photo/Kyle Ericson)With Saturday’s surprising trade to San Diego, outfielder Ryan Ludwick left the St. Louis Cardinals after three-plus years at the major league level, following a partial Triple-A season. The man who dealt away Ludwick, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, was instrumental in bringing the 32-year-old to the organization prior to the 2007 season.

Here are a few of Ludwick’s Cardinals highlights:

2007: Called up from Memphis on May 6 and did not return. His 11 pinch hits were second on the team and tied for 11th in the National League.

2008: All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner. Set career highs in average (.299), home runs (37) and RBI (113).

2009: Led Cardinals outfielders with 22 home runs and 97 RBI. NL Player of the Month for July. Had nine assists and just one error all season long. Was one of the few to hit well in the short post-season, going 4-for-12 (.333) against the Dodgers in the NLDS.

2010: Out from July 3-24 due to a calf injury. Having played in 77 of the team’s 103 games, Ludwick was fourth on the team with 11 home runs and third with 20 doubles and 43 RBI.

Researcher Tom Orf helps me close the books on the segment of Ludwick’s career that intersects with the Cardinals. The data that follows indicates that since the start of 2007, Ludwick was second only to Albert Pujols on the club in most offensive categories. That proven production will need to be replaced.

Rk
 Player HR From To
1 Albert Pujols 139 2007 2010
2 Ryan Ludwick 84 2007 2010
3 Rick Ankiel 47 2007 2009
4 Matt Holliday 32 2009 2010
5 Colby Rasmus 32 2009 2010
6 Chris Duncan 32 2007 2009
7 Troy Glaus 27 2008 2009
8 Yadier Molina 23 2007 2010
9 Skip Schumaker 17 2007 2010
10 Jim Edmonds 12 2007 2007
Rk
 Player RBI From To
1 Albert Pujols 425 2007 2010
2 Ryan Ludwick 305 2007 2010
3 Yadier Molina 188 2007 2010
4 Rick Ankiel 148 2007 2009
5 Chris Duncan 129 2007 2009
6 Skip Schumaker 124 2007 2010
7 Matt Holliday 115 2009 2010
8 Troy Glaus 101 2008 2009
9 Colby Rasmus 95 2009 2010
10 Brendan Ryan 79 2007 2010
Rk
 Player R From To
1 Albert Pujols 384 2007 2010
2 Ryan Ludwick 253 2007 2010
3 Skip Schumaker 238 2007 2010
4 Rick Ankiel 146 2007 2009
5 Brendan Ryan 139 2007 2010
6 Yadier Molina 134 2007 2010
7 Colby Rasmus 126 2009 2010
8 Aaron Miles 112 2007 2010
9 Chris Duncan 102 2007 2009
10 Matt Holliday 99 2009 2010
Rk
 Player H From To
1 Albert Pujols 670 2007 2010
2 Skip Schumaker 464 2007 2010
3 Ryan Ludwick 450 2007 2010
4 Yadier Molina 446 2007 2010
5 Brendan Ryan 266 2007 2010
6 Aaron Miles 259 2007 2010
7 Rick Ankiel 244 2007 2009
8 Chris Duncan 211 2007 2009
9 Colby Rasmus 200 2009 2010
10 Matt Holliday 198 2009 2010
Rk
 Player 2B From To
1 Albert Pujols 150 2007 2010
2 Ryan Ludwick 102 2007 2010
3 Skip Schumaker 81 2007 2010
4 Yadier Molina 67 2007 2010
5 Rick Ankiel 50 2007 2009
6 Brendan Ryan 48 2007 2010
7 Chris Duncan 43 2007 2009
8 Matt Holliday 42 2009 2010
9 Colby Rasmus 41 2009 2010
10 Troy Glaus 35 2008 2009
Rk
 Player 3B From To
1 Brendan Ryan 9 2007 2010
2 Skip Schumaker 9 2007 2010
3 Ryan Ludwick 6 2007 2010
4 Rick Ankiel 5 2007 2009
5 Adam Kennedy 5 2007 2008
6 Colby Rasmus 4 2009 2010
7 Julio Lugo 4 2009 2009
8 Joseph Thurston 4 2009 2009
9 Matt Holliday 3 2009 2010
10 Felipe Lopez 3 2008 2010
11 Aaron Miles 3 2007 2010
12 Albert Pujols 3 2007 2010
13 Cesar Izturis 3 2008 2008
Rk
 Player BB From To
1 Albert Pujols 384 2007 2010
2 Ryan Ludwick 153 2007 2010
3 Yadier Molina 148 2007 2010
4 Skip Schumaker 135 2007 2010
5 Chris Duncan 130 2007 2009
6 Troy Glaus 90 2008 2009
7 Rick Ankiel 81 2007 2009
8 Brendan Ryan 79 2007 2010
9 Colby Rasmus 74 2009 2010
10 Matt Holliday 69 2009 2010
Rk
 Player SO From To
1 Ryan Ludwick 388 2007 2010
2 Chris Duncan 242 2007 2009
3 Rick Ankiel 240 2007 2009
4 Albert Pujols 227 2007 2010
5 Skip Schumaker 193 2007 2010
6 Colby Rasmus 192 2009 2010
7 Yadier Molina 146 2007 2010
8 Brendan Ryan 145 2007 2010
9 Troy Glaus 112 2008 2009
10 Matt Holliday 103 2009 2010
Rk
 Player SB From To
1 Albert Pujols 36 2007 2010
2 Brendan Ryan 36 2007 2010
3 Cesar Izturis 24 2008 2008
4 Yadier Molina 16 2007 2010
5 Skip Schumaker 16 2007 2010
6 Adam Kennedy 13 2007 2008
7 Ryan Ludwick 12 2007 2010
8 Colby Rasmus 12 2009 2010
9 David Eckstein 10 2007 2007
10 Matt Holliday 9 2009 2010
11 Felipe Lopez 9 2008 2010
Rk
 Player HBP From To
1 Ryan Ludwick 26 2007 2010
2 Albert Pujols 22 2007 2010
3 Yadier Molina 14 2007 2010
4 David Eckstein 12 2007 2007
5 Jason LaRue 10 2008 2010
6 Brendan Ryan 9 2007 2010
7 Matt Holliday 8 2009 2010
8 Rick Ankiel 8 2007 2009
9 Tyler Greene 6 2009 2010
10 Cesar Izturis 6 2008 2008
11 So Taguchi 6 2007 2007
Rk
 Player SF AB From To
1 Albert Pujols 28 2037 2007 2010
2 Ryan Ludwick 15 1608 2007 2010
3 Yadier Molina 11 1589 2007 2010
4 Rick Ankiel 10 957 2007 2009
5 Aaron Miles 7 854 2007 2010
6 Skip Schumaker 7 1562 2007 2010
7 David Eckstein 7 434 2007 2007
8 Scott Rolen 7 392 2007 2007
9 Matt Holliday 6 617 2009 2010
10 Chris Duncan 5 857 2007 2009
11 Adam Kennedy 5 618 2007 2008
Rk
 Player BA AB From To
1 Jon Jay 0.396 111 2010 2010
2 Albert Pujols 0.329 2037 2007 2010
3 Matt Holliday 0.321 617 2009 2010
4 David Eckstein 0.309 434 2007 2007
5 Felipe Lopez 0.308 425 2008 2010
6 Aaron Miles 0.303 854 2007 2010
7 David Freese 0.299 271 2009 2010
8 Skip Schumaker 0.297 1562 2007 2010
9 So Taguchi 0.290 307 2007 2007
10 Juan Encarnacion 0.283 283 2007 2007
11 Yadier Molina 0.281 1589 2007 2010
12 Ryan Ludwick 0.280 1608 2007 2010
Rk
 Player SLG AB From To
1 Albert Pujols 0.610 2037 2007 2010
2 Jon Jay 0.604 111 2010 2010
3 Matt Holliday 0.554 617 2009 2010
4 Ryan Ludwick 0.507 1608 2007 2010
5 Troy Glaus 0.471 573 2008 2009
6 Rick Ankiel 0.465 957 2007 2009
7 Felipe Lopez 0.447 425 2008 2010
8 Colby Rasmus 0.445 776 2009 2010
9 Juan Encarnacion 0.445 283 2007 2007
10 Julio Lugo 0.432 148 2009 2009
Rk
 Player XBH AB From To
1 Albert Pujols 292 2037 2007 2010
2 Ryan Ludwick 192 1608 2007 2010
3 Skip Schumaker 107 1562 2007 2010
4 Rick Ankiel 102 957 2007 2009
5 Yadier Molina 91 1589 2007 2010
6 Matt Holliday 77 617 2009 2010
7 Chris Duncan 77 857 2007 2009
8 Colby Rasmus 77 776 2009 2010
9 Brendan Ryan 66 1022 2007 2010
10 Troy Glaus 63 573 2008 2009

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