Caution: I’m talking stats for the next 10 minutes!

With 9.26% of the Cardinals season elapsed already and the Cubs already mathematically eliminated (SORRY, I CAN’T HELP IT!) I thought I’d uncover a few interesting stats/facts about the Birds on the Bat.

Yadier Molina – Yadi leads the league in “At-Bats per Strikeouts” That’s the rate of failure at the plate calculated by dividing the number of at-bats by strikeouts. Yadi’s waaaaay out front with a .46 or 1 strikeout in 46 a bats. The next closest is Jeff Keppinger with a 19.7. (He’ll never be at a Tony Gwynn rate, but the kid is getting better every year)

Albert “The Mang” Pujols – Albert has the 4th best OPS in the National League with a 1.153! For those of you that aren’t aware of OPS it means On base + Percentage. It was made famous in Moneyball. An OPS is simply the addition of a batters OBP (Hits + Walks + Hit By Pitches divided by At Bats + Walks + Hit By Pitches + Sacrifice Flies) and Slugging Percentage (Total Bases divided by Total At Bats) and expressed as a percentage. Over the course of a season, anything over .900 is very good. (More on this later.

Kyle Loshe – Second lowest ERA in the NL for starters with a 1.04 (Not bad for a guy who couldn’t get a contract 40 days ago)

Braden Looper – Braden the guy who NEVER started a game and ANY level prior to last season is tied for second in Wins with 3. (Great project Dunc!)

Todd Wellemeyer – The KC Royals cast-off (isn’t that the lowest thing that can happen to a guy?) is fourth in Strikeouts per 9 innings average with a 10.00.

Jason Isringhausen – Izzy leads the National League with 6 saves. (In seven chances)

Cardinals Pitching - As a whole the Cards have the second lowest team ERA in the NL with a 3.40. The pitching has been a key reason for the 11-5 start. The offense is there, or not far from being there, but the pitching has been outstanding. Right now you have have to wonder where the team will be if Mulder, Clement, and Carpenter make it back and have the “mad skills” that they are capable of, but that’s a way off wonder for now.