Bernie on the athletic: differences since Matheny was fired.
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At 16-9 with Shildt as manager, the Cardinals have the NL’s best winning percentage (.640) since July 15.
In his last 25 games as the manager, Matheny was 11-14 (.440.) In his last 31 games, Matheny was 12-19 (.387).
In Matheny’s last 20 series as manager, the Cardinals won only five of them.
Shildt has managed the Cardinals for seven series, and the team has won five of them.
The Cardinals have won five consecutive series for the first time since late May/early June of 2015.
After a 7-2 road trip to Pittsburgh, Miami and Kansas City, the Cardinals (63-55) are eight games over .500 for the first time this season. They’ve won five consecutive games, which matches their longest streak of the season.
The Cardinals averaged 4.37 runs per game before firing Matheny and batting coaches John Mabry and Bill Mueller. They’re averaging 5.1 runs per game under Shildt and new hitting coaches Mark Budaska and George Greer.
The overall team ERA under Matheny was 3.84 (No. 11 in the majors).
Since the promotion of Shildt, the expanded influence of pitching coach Mike Maddux and the restructuring of the bullpen, the Cardinals are fourth in the majors with a 3.45 ERA in Shildt’s 25 games.
How about situational hitting? Before the changes, the Cardinals were tied for 16th in the majors in two-out RBIs. Under Shildt and the new hitting coaches, the Cardinals rank third in MLB with 53 two-out RBIs. And they’re fourth with a two-out OPS of .839.
On July 14, the Cardinals ranked 25th in the majors with a two-strike batting average of .133. With Shildt’s strong emphasis on putting the ball in play, the Cardinals’ change in approach has produced a .231 batting average on two-strike counts, which ranks first in the NL and No. 2 overall.
Before the dismissals, the Cardinals were 25th in two-strike slugging percentage (.262), 20th in two-strike OBP (.176) and 24th in two-strike OPS (.504).
In the last 25 games, following the directives from Shildt, Budaska and Greer, the Cardinals are No. 2 in the MLB in two-strike OBP (.294), No. 1 in the majors in two-strike slugging (.381) and No. 1 in two-strike OPS (.676.) And no team has more two-strike doubles (21) than the Cardinals over the last 25 games. Only four have more two-strike homers than the Cards’ 15.
The Cardinals’ two-strike 85 wRC+ over the past 25 games is tied for No. 1 in the majors. Under Matheny and his batting coaches this season, the team’s two-strike wRC+ of 39 ranked 23rd.
Before Shildt, Budaska and Greer: A two-strike strikeout percentage of 42.2 percent, which ranked 18th in MLB. After Shildt and the new batting coaches got to work: The Cardinals rank No. 2 in MLB with a two-strike K rate of 34.8 percent. That’s a significant decrease.
The energy level is way up, though. The Cardinals are having fun playing baseball again. And they’re entertaining to watch again.
[Reply]
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
I don't know if many of those stats make a very compelling case given the extremely small sample sizes he's comparing. I have no doubt that the quality of coaching has significantly improved, but some of this is just string luck/positive regression.
JFC, a fence post could have done better than Matheny.
But, Bernie has been saying for a long time that Shildt is the smartest baseball mind in the Cardinals organization. So there is a “told ya so” slant to his Schildt views.
[Reply]
