Best duos in St. Louis Cardinals history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in St. Louis Cardinals history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 2004 St. Louis Cardinals
- Scott Rolen: 9.2 WAR (#4 position player in 2004)
- Chris Carpenter: 3.3 WAR (#42 pitcher in 2004)
- Total: 12.5 WAR
#9. 2015 St. Louis Cardinals
- Jason Heyward: 6.9 WAR (#10 position player in 2015)
- John Lackey: 5.8 WAR (#6 pitcher in 2015)
- Total: 12.7 WAR
#8. 2013 St. Louis Cardinals
- Matt Carpenter: 6.6 WAR (#9 position player in 2013)
- Adam Wainwright: 6.3 WAR (#6 pitcher in 2013)
- Total: 12.9 WAR
#7. 2006 St. Louis Cardinals
- Albert Pujols: 8.5 WAR (#1 position player in 2006)
- Chris Carpenter: 5.1 WAR (#11 pitcher in 2006)
- Total: 13.6 WAR
#6. 2010 St. Louis Cardinals
- Albert Pujols: 7.5 WAR (#5 position player in 2010)
- Adam Wainwright: 6.2 WAR (#5 pitcher in 2010)
- Total: 13.7 WAR
#5. 1969 St. Louis Cardinals
- Curt Flood: 3.8 WAR (#51 position player in 1969)
- Bob Gibson: 10.4 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1969)
- Total: 14.2 WAR
#4. 2005 St. Louis Cardinals
- Albert Pujols: 8.4 WAR (#2 position player in 2005)
- Chris Carpenter: 5.8 WAR (#8 pitcher in 2005)
- Total: 14.2 WAR
#3. 1970 St. Louis Cardinals
- Joe Torre: 5.6 WAR (#17 position player in 1970)
- Bob Gibson: 8.9 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1970)
- Total: 14.5 WAR
#2. 2009 St. Louis Cardinals
- Albert Pujols: 9.7 WAR (#1 position player in 2009)
- Chris Carpenter: 6.5 WAR (#7 pitcher in 2009)
- Total: 16.2 WAR
#1. 1985 St. Louis Cardinals
- Willie McGee: 8.2 WAR (#4 position player in 1985)
- John Tudor: 8.1 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1985)
- Total: 16.3 WAR
