St. Louis Cardinals 2018 Season Review 88-74 (.543) • 3rd in N.L. Central • 43-38 at Home • 45-36 on Road 2018 SEASON REVIEW: The St. Louis Cardinals concluded their WELCOME TO THE SHOW: The Cardinals had nine players make their RECORD BREAKDOWN 127th season of play in the National League by finishing in 3rd Major League debuts in 2018: Adolis García, Austin Gomber, Jordan All-Time Overall ......... 10,047-9,560 place in the National League Central Division, 6th overall in the Hicks, Dakota Hudson, Yairo Muñoz, Tyler O’Neill, Daniel Poncede- Senior Circuit and 13th in the majors. It was the 23rd third place leon, Edmundo Sosa and Patrick Wisdom. 2018 Overall ............................88-74 finish for the Cardinals all-time and their 2nd-straight. Busch Stadium ...................... 43-38 MOLINA RECIPIENT OF ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD: Yadier Mo- WINNING SEASONS: The Cardinals posted their 11th consecutive lina was named by Major League Baseball as the recipient of pres- On the Road ........................... 45-36 winning season in 2018, something they’d done just once previ- tigious 2018 Roberto Clemente Award for his humanitarian efforts... Day ..........................................32-28 ously in franchise history, when they compiled 15 consecutive win- Molina became the 5th Cardinals recipient of the award, the most Night ....................................... 56-46 ning seasons from 1939-1953. It marked the 78th winning season honorees of any team, joining Lou Brock (1975), Ozzie Smith (1995), Spring...................................17-13-2 in franchise history. Albert Pujols (2008) and Carlos Beltrán (2013) March .......................................0-2 10,000 WINS MILESTONE: On June 25, the Cardinals recorded ALL-STARS: Yadier Molina and Miles Mikolas were selected as the April ...................................... 15-10 their 10,000th regular season win since joining the National League Cardinals representatives at the 89th MLB All-Star Game in Washing- in 1892, becoming the sixth team to reach the 10,000 wins mile- ton, D.C...for Molina it was his 9th All-Star selection and Mikolas was May ....................................... 15-12 stone as a member of the National League, along with the Braves tabbed for the 1st time...Cardinals Strength & Conditioning Coach June ...................................... 12-15 (joined in 1876), Cubs (1876), Giants (1883), Pirates (1887) and Pete Prinzi was also a member of the N.L. All-Star team. Dodgers (1890). July ....................................... 12-14 DISABLED LIST: The Cardinals had 24 players spend time on the dis- August .................................... 22-6 FAN-TASTIC: The Cardinals surpassed the 3 million mark in sea- abled list in 2018, including 10 players who had multiple D.L. stints. September ............................ 12-15 son attendance (3,403,587) for the 15th-straight season (2004- The Cardinals 36 total D.L. stints were 2nd highest in MLB behind Monday................................... 10-8 18) and the 22nd time overall...the Cardinals ranked 3rd behind only the Dodgers (38). only the Dodgers (3,857,500) & Yankees (3,482,865) among MLB BOTTOMS UP: The Cardinals 9th place hitters hit a franchise sin- Tuesday ................................ 15-10 teams in season attendance in 2018...St. Louis posted sellouts in gle-season record 17 HR’s, leading the N.L., and they drove in 61 Wednesday ........................... 10-13 27 of their 81 home dates. runs, 2nd to the Cubs (62) who often batted their pitcher 8th. Thursday .................................. 8-8 MLB RATINGS LEADER: The Cardinals ranked no. 1 among all MILES MARKERS: Miles Mikolas co-led the National League in wins Friday .................................... 13-12 teams in local television ratings (7.3 household rating) on FOX (18) with Max Scherzer and Jon Lester, becoming the first Cardinals Sports Midwest, the 19th consecutive season (2000-18) the team Saturday ............................... 16-12 pitchers to do so since Adam Wainwright (19 wins in 2013) and the finished in the top three in all of MLB. Sunday ................................. 16-11 first to do so in his very first season with the Redbirds...Mikolas’ Scoring First ......................... 62-25 GAMES THAT MATTER: Since Opening Day of 2011, the Cardi- league-leading .818 win pct. (18-4) was the best by a Cardinals pitch- nals have played 1,292 regular season games, out of 1,295, during er since Kyle Lohse paced the Senior Circuit in 2012 (16-3, .842). Opponent Scores First .......... 26-49 which they still maintained playoff aspirations and had not yet PERFECT ROAD: Miles Mikolas was a perfect 10-0 on the road in One-Run Games .....................22-22 been eliminated...THE “MO” SHOW: In their 11 seasons (2008- 2018, becoming only the 3rd pitcher in MLB dating to 1908 to post Two-Run Games ..................... 18-10 18) under President of Baseball Operations John “Mo” Mozeliak, a 1.000 winning pct. on the road while winning 10 or more games... the Cardinals have won 985 regular season games, trailing only Scoring 2 or fewer Runs ...........3-37 the only others to do so were Greg Maddux, ATL (13-0 in 1995) the Yankees (1,010) & Dodgers (992), while they & the Yankees Scoring 3 Runs .......................10-14 and Jimmy Key, NYY (10-0 in 1994)...the Cardinals were a combined are the only teams to have posted 11 consecutive winning (+.500) 13-3 in Mikolas’ 16 road starts. Scoring 4 or more Runs .........75-23 seasons in that time period. Scoring in 3 or fewer innings . 58-67 CATCH THIS: Yadier Molina hit 20 homers, two shy of his career MIKE & MIKE: For the first time since 1995, the Cardinals in 2018 high 22 in 2012 and joined Ted Simmons (1977 & 1979) as the lone Scoring in 4 or more innings ....30-7 utilized more than one manager in the same season. The team dis- Cardinals catchers with multiple 20+ homer seasons...BASH BROTH- vs. Right-Handed Starter .......61-52 missed manager Mike Matheny following their game on July 14th ERS: Molina (146) passed his older brother Bengie (144) in 2018 after the team had gotten off to a 47-46 (.505 win pct.) start and vs. Left-Handed Starter ..........27-22 for the family lead in career homers...José Molina had 39 career was in 3rd place in the N.L. Central, 7-1/2 games out of first place... Series Openers .......................27-25 round-trippers. Mike Shildt was named interim manager on July 15 and managed Series Finales ..........................27-25 the team to 41-28 (.594 win pct.) mark, matching the Brewers & A TASTE FOR CHICAGO: Matt Carpenter hit eight home runs in his Homestand Openers ................10-3 Rockies for the most wins among NL teams in that time span... 19 games against the Cubs, the most by any opposing player in 2018, and tied with Jim Edmonds (2004), Albert Pujols (2004), Stan Mu- Homestand Finales ....................6-7 Shildt had his interim tag removed prior to the game on August 28. sial (1950) and Rogers Hornsby (1925) for most in a season among Road Trip Openers ......................6-8 FARM SYSTEM: The Cardinals 492-402 (.550) overall organiza- Cardinals...WRIGLEY WALLOPS: Carpenter hit six homers at Wrigley Road Trip Finales ........................6-8 tional record placed them 2nd behind Tampa Bay (539-345; .604) Field (all during July 19-22 five-game series), tying Les Bell (1925) in total wins among all minor league systems in 2018. Memphis Following Off-Days ................. 11-13 for the most in a single-season by a Cardinal. (AAA) won its 2nd-consecutive Pacific Coast League title and the Out-Hit Opponents ................. 61-13 Triple-A National Championship Game and Peoria (A) reached the POWER PLAY: The Cardinals homered in 115 of their 162 games, go- Out-Hit by Opponents............ 20-57 Midwest League Championship Series. ing 77-38 (.670 win pct.) in those games (11-36 when not homering). Final At-Bat Decisions ............19-15 MR. CARDINAL: The St. Louis Cardinals were saddened on June 6 HOMERS AWAY FROM HOME: St. Louis was an N.L.-best 41-20 (.672) when homering on the road, and their 122 road homers led all Come-from-Behind W/L ..........36/36 by the passing of Hall of Famer Albert Fred “Red” Schoendienst N.L. teams and were 3rd in the majors to OAK (136) and NYY (123)... Walk-off Wins/Losses .............. 11/9 at the age of 95. Schoendienst was the oldest living member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame at the time of his passing. St. Louis out-homered its opposition 122-66 on the road, the largest In Errorless Games ............... 43-32 differential amongst all M.L. teams...the Cardinals 83 homers at Bus- Commit at Least One Error .... 45-42 DIVISION MATH: The Cardinals were 41-35 vs. the NL Central, 16- ch Stadium placed them 18th in the majors in home runs hit at home. 16 vs. the East, 20-14 vs. the West and 11-9 vs. the American Extra Innings ..............................8-8 League. THE NO “BIG FLY” ZONE: Cardinals pitchers allowed the majors few- Shutouts .....................................8-7 est homers (144) in 2018, the first time since 1989 (84) that they’d MATCH-UPS: The Cardinals most wins came against CIN (12) paced the majors in fewest homers surrendered. Leading after 7 innings .............71-6 and their most defeats were against MIL (11)...the Cardinals most Tied after 7 innings .....................8-6 wins on the road came at CIN (7) and their best match-up at home TRIPLES TRIVIA: The Cardinals hit a Major League low nine triples in 2018 and finished with a record single-season low of four at Busch Trailing after 7 innings ............. 9-62 came against CHI (6 wins)...the Cardinals were a combined 31-30 Stadium III...it was the first time in franchise history that the team Leading after 8 innings .............74-4 against 2018 postseason teams: (8-11) vs MIL, (10-9) vs.