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| The addition of outfielder Carlos Beltran, who leads the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012 with five stolen bases, along with a new approach by manager Mike Matheny, has resulted in the Cardinals swiping more bags at a higher success rate than in past seasons. - Photo courtesy of Getty Images |
Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa will go down as one of the best manager of all-time. He is a cinch for the Hall of Fame someday and the Cardinals will retire his number on May 11th.
But a knock on La Russa, especially in St. Louis where fans adored "Whitey Ball" under Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog throughout the 1980's, was that La Russa's style was too "American League." La Russa utilized the long-ball on most occasions during his time in St. Louis. How could you blame him, with the likes of Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols hitting in the middle of his batting order.
Now that La Russa has retired, new manager Mike Matheny has implemented a slightly different approach.
Matheny's version of the Cardinals are running again.
Through Friday night's 5-4 loss to the Houston Astros, the Cardinals have stolen 23 bases in just 28 attempts. Their 23 bases stolen ranks fourth among all teams in Major League baseball and their success rate of 82 percent ranks second behind the speedy Miami Marlins.
Compare that to 2011, when the Cardinals stole just 57 bases all season, the second lowest amount amongst all teams in 2011. And their success rate was brutal too, swiping bags on just 59 percent of attempts, worst in the league in 2011.
Matheny is clearly changing the philosophy in St. Louis and has his players are focused on attention to detail and creating runs with their legs. Clearly it is working.
But it not just Matheny's approach that explains the increase in stolen bases for the 2012 version of Cardinals baseball.
Matheny has the horses to swipe bags. Carlos Beltran was not around in 2011 and has stolen five bases this season. Rafael Furcal looks to be fully healthy this season and has swiped four bags. Then there is the opportunistic Yadier Molina, who is not exactly the quickest player in the world, who has matched his 2011 stolen base production with four steals.
While Matheny has the horses, the philosophy is clearly different. La Russa utilized the "hit-and-run" on a regular basis, which could help explain the low success rate on stolen base attempts in past seasons.
Matheny looks to like the run-and-hit approach.
The 2012 Cardinals are certainly running the bases aggressively and swiping bags more often, but it is a far cry from Whitey Ball.
But they are running more and that is a reflection of the new approach from the Cardinals young manager.
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