DENVER -- The way the Cardinals have bulldozed through the National League in the second half, it's easy to forget that they were locked in a see-saw battle with the Cubs, barely over .500, a few months ago.Then Mark DeRosa arrived. And Julio Lugo. And Matt Holliday.
By the time John Smoltz showed up in mid August, the Cardinals were a changed team.
"You get four guys like that, who add postseason experience and most of all a lot of depth to our lineup and our bench," Cardinals outfielder Ryan Ludwick told FanHouse before Friday's potential division-clinching game in Colorado. "We just got better depth-wise. We've just been having a lot of fun. You start winning games and it becomes contagious and you get rolling."
Since Holliday was acquired, the Cardinals are 37-18, the best record in baseball.
"Your lineup gets one more bat deeper," manager Tony La Russa said. "Because he hits fourth, there is extra significance to that. They've walked Albert Pujols and he's made them pay, or they've pitched to Albert because he's back there."
Cubs pitcher Rich Harden said this week that the mere addition of Holliday changed the complexion of the Cardinals lineup.
"He had a huge addition to that lineup," Harden said. "They were already pretty strong and had some good depth, but once they added him, it made a big difference."
Although Holliday is not feared more than Pujols, Holliday did put just enough concern into the mind of opposing managers and pitchers that walking Pujols was not such a no-brainer.
Before the Holliday trade, Pujols had averaged one walk every 5.5 plate appearances. After the deal, it was one walk every 7.0 plate appearances. That's a 25-percent decrease in walks. Pujols was intentionally walked 34 times before the trade, nine times after.
Pujols just kept on slugging at about the same rate after the deal as before, although getting some more opportunities. The biggest impact has been simply putting Holliday's at-bats in the No. 4 hole.
Since coming to the Cardinals, Holliday has hit .356 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs in 54 games. It is a bit of a misconception that Holliday simply turned on the jets after getting out of Oakland, where he was languishing on a last-place team in an unfamiliar league in a pitchers' park. Holliday actually hit .338 with 14 RBIs in his last 18 games with the A's.
Ludwick, who had been the No. 4 hitter before Holliday's acquisition pushed him down to No. 5, said that DeRosa has also been a key addition in the No. 6 spot. Now the everyday third baseman, DeRosa has hit 10 homers in 61 games with St. Louis.
Even Lugo has had an impact. Playing both middle infield positions, Lugo has hit .277 with an .801 OPS.Smoltz, after getting pounded in Boston, came to the Cardinals and made a couple small mechanical adjustments. He's got a 3.18 ERA in six starts, not to mention that he's helped provide another source of leadership for the less experienced pitchers.
"At the trading deadline, we were half a game in front," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "They went out and added some really really nice pieces and basically just exploded."
