Holliday in the Hot Seat

Matt Holliday, that gum-smacking, leg-kicking slugger with the handsome mug – who also just happens to be from my home state of Oklahoma – was signed by the Cardinals (back in January) for the richest contract in team history at $120 million for 7 years.  Matt was the proposed golden boy of the off-season and was tagged as a savior for a team needing someone – anyone- who could bat 4th and protect our platinum star Albert Pujols in the lineup 

With Holliday batting behind him, nobody would dare to pitch around Pujols and wins would be all but guaranteed, right?  Perhaps naively, I entirely expected the Cards to come out swinging this season, rocketing their way to the top of the standings and giving us reason to party all the way to an inevitable 2010 World Series Championship.

I have to ask:  could even Superman live up to those expectations?  


Baseball is a team sport and it takes an entire team - hitting and fielding and doing things right-  to make that kind of dream season a reality. 

So now, here we are just over 1/3 of the way through the season, and fans are getting understandably restless at the pervasive absence of power at the plate.  Lately the Cardinal fans on twitter – my gauge for the pulse of Cardinal Nation – have been increasingly more critical of Matt Holliday, questioning when he’s “going to earn that big paycheck.” 

Our St. Louis Cardinals were in first place in the NL Central until being swept by the Dodgers this week. I can’t help but wonder what happened- not just in the Dodgers series, but overall in the Cardinals 2010 performance so far.  A highly touted, dangerous one-two punch of Pujols and Holliday has yet to live up to the hype.  Overall, the team is hitting in spotty streaks and has failed to be a consistent threat. The spur in the side of the Cardinals slumping offense is the situational batting failure with runners in scoring position – and Matt Holliday is in the hotseat.

Is it realistic to expect Holliday to repeat numbers like his 2009 St. Louis stats?

What kind of pressure does that $120 million contract put uniquely on the shoulders of Mr. Holliday?  

Looking at the chart compiled from Baseball-reference.com, Holliday’s 2009 STL stats were stellar, but his career averages still remain a comforting reminder that Matt Holliday is a proven, dependable slugger.

Year	Tm	G	R	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2004	COL	121	65	14	57	.290	.349	.488	.837
2005	COL	125	68	19	87	.307	.361	.505	.866
2006	COL	155	119	34	114	.326	.387	.586	.973
2007	COL	158	120	36	137	.340	.405	.607	1.012
2008	COL	139	107	25	88	.321	.409	.538	.947
2009	OAK	93	52	11	54	.286	.378	.454	.831
2009	STL	63	42	13	55	.353	.419	.604	1.023
2010	STL	57	31	6	25	.300	.377	.456	.833

Regardless of the salary he is collecting, Holliday should continue to play ball in his proven style. The season is long and we have lots of road left to cover. If Holliday is healthy– and he sure looks healthy to me – he is a consistent, solid player.   Plus various scribes have written that Holliday has been a perennial slow-starter with May being his traditionally slow month.  So, hopefully we will be enjoying a Holliday heat wave soon!

Hearing the song “Chicken Fried” with Holliday coming to the plate continues to make me smile, not just because I find his walk-up music endearing, but because I believe in Matt.  I know Holliday will soon hit his stride and pitchers will have to pick their poison – pitch to #5 or pitch to #7. So you will continue to hear support for hunky Matt Holliday from this side of the bleachers. 

GO CARDS!