The Simple Proof - Wins and Losses

Yesterday's game was frustrating. The offense is obviously frustrating, but for some reason I was fixating on the defense, so today you're getting a little middle infielders by the numbers. Erika and I (along with several other diehards in Cardinal Nation) had a collective heart attack when we heard that Brendan Ryan and Jon Jay were the two names that had been potentially offered to the Astros in return for Roy Oswalt. Now, I don't think this is actually a true offer, just a rumor, sent out into the world to make fans spaz out and scribes scramble to find out whether or not it is actual fact or fiction. We won't go into that one any more today...

CardinalsCandids.com

After seeing a couple of botched double plays yesterday afternoon, and hearing one of our middle infielders dropped into trade talks made me wonder what this team has looked like with our various fielders in and out of the games.


I'll admit - I didn't go too in-depth on this one. I think you will see that it wasn't particularly necessary. All I did was look at sheer numbers - did the team win or lose on any given day with any given player playing at various positions. So here it is - Aaron Miles, Tyler Greene, Felipe Lopez, Skip Schumaker and Brendan Ryan by the wins and losses:


With Miles...

• starting at 2B: 3-4
• starting at 3B: 0-1

I'll admit, this is a very small sample size. Fair enough. Moving on.


With Greene...

• starting at 2B: 2-2
• starting at SS: 6-7

This is still a small sample size. Let's keep going.


With Lopez...

• starting at 2B: 6-5
• starting at SS: 6-10

The numbers are getting bigger, and they are starting to paint a picture.


For Schumaker and Ryan I looked at it a little differently. They both have started in just the one position (in the middle infield at least), and I was curious as to how they fare with and without each other. Let's look at Skippy first.


For Skip...

• starting at 2B: 43-29
• starting with either Lopez or Greene: 12-13
• starting with Brendan: 31-16
• sitting on the bench at the start: 11-14

The number line to catch here: Skip and Brendan in the lineup together has produced a Cardinals team that is 15 games over .500. Yes, I did contact Erika when I found that out. She and I thought the same thing, 'No way and HECK YES!' But we're just getting started...


For Brendan...

• starting at SS: 42-20
• starting with either Lopez, Greene or Miles: 11-8
• staring with Skip: 31-16
• sitting on the bench at the start: 12-23

This absolutely blew my mind. Brendan Ryan in the lineup equates to 22 games over .500, and out of the lineup is 11 games under. 

Scott Rovak - US Presswire

I think the answer is simple. Put Brendan and Skip in the lineup and let them play. Just by observation (read: don't yell at me for the next sentence - it's my observation), it looks like Brendan and Skip have the easiest camaraderie on the field. I don't know if it's because they have played together more than any of the other pairings (although that would make sense) or if they just blend the best. Obviously they have both had their share of errors, miscues and otherwise ugly plays this year. The fact of the matter remains - Brendan and Skip in the lineup together has produced winning baseball.


Wins and losses don't lie.