Leadoff spot is treating Matt Carpenter quite nicely
It's been a week since Mike Matheny restored St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter to the leadoff spot in the order, and the results have been as dazzling as you thought.
Over the last seven games (encompassing 28 at-bats), Carpenter has batted .393 with five home runs, eight RBIs, a .469 on-base percentage, a 1.036 slugging percentage and a whopping 1.504 on-base plus slugging percentage. Along the way, the Cardinals have gone 5-2.
Those numbers reflect Carpenter's prowess earlier in the season, before he was lowered in the order. Overall, Carpenter's success in the leadoff spot dwarfs his production elsewhere in 2015.
MATT CARPENTER IN 2015, AS NO. 1 HITTER VS. ALL OTHER SPOTS
| Statistic | No. 1 |
All others |
| Games | 28 | 74 |
| Batting average | .357 | .223 |
| On-base percentage | .431 | .339 |
| Slugging percentage | .713 | .350 |
| At-bats per home run | 12.8 | 43.3 |
The Cardinals have won their last seven road series against the Brewers, matching their longest road streak ever. St. Louis also won seven straight road series against the 1927-29 Boston Braves, the 1930-32 Cincinnati Reds, the 1986-89 Atlanta Braves and the 2003-09 Florida Marlins.
HIGHEST SLUGGING PERCENTAGE ON LINE DRIVES IN 2015*
| Player | Team | Slugging percentage |
| Randal Grichuk | St. Louis Cardinals | 1.526 |
| Bryce Harper | Washington Nationals | 1.419 |
| Rougned Odor | Texas Rangers | 1.361 |
| David Peralta | Arizona Diamondbacks | 1.339 |
| Chris Young |
New York Yankees | 1.333 |
| * Minimum 30 at-bats |
Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun's last home run against the Cardinals came on April 14, 2013. Since then, he's gone 116 at-bats without going deep against St. Louis. That's far longer than his next longest homerless streak versus any opponent in his career: 76 at-bats against the Nationals (2010-14).
LOWEST ERA ON FIVE-PLUS DAYS OF REST IN 2015, NATIONAL LEAGUE*
| Pitcher | Team | ERA |
| Lance Lynn | St. Louis Cardinals |
0.82 |
| Jimmy Nelson | Milwaukee Brewers | 1.31 |
| Jaime Garcia | St. Louis Cardinals |
1.54 |
| Carlos Martinez | St. Louis Cardinals |
1.54 |
| Taylor Jungmann | Milwaukee Brewers | 1.59 |
| * Minimum five games started |
Ryan Braun
