Allen Craig as long been a favorite in these parts. Erik interviewed him. Roarke profiled him. He’s looked and played the part of a post-Ryan Ludwick every year up until last year where bad luck and stiff MLB competition faltered his steps a bit. What can we expect in 2011 and will it be enough?
A glance at Craig’s minor league stats reveal a player that has consistently been an above average performer if never a truly elite performer. He posted his lowest wRC+ (*) in 2006 — his first year — with just a 120. Since then he’s posted a 147, 129, 141 and 138 as he worked his way from Palm Beach to Memphis.
Offensively, Craig is a line drive contact hitter who has regularly hit above .300 and draws a middling number of walks. He’s show good power hitting 20+ homeruns on three separate occasions with an isolated power around .200 for his career. These are all very good statistics and it’s consistently surprising that, given his offense, he’s been relegated to something of an afterthought within the organization.
The reasoning for that, however, is not entirely opaque. Craig has been perceived as a player without a position. Primarily a third baseman in the minors, the Cardinals acquired David Freese and drafted Brett Wallace (in a farcical third base experiment) before moving Craig to right field. While he’s athletic enough to play the outfield, Craig’s arm doesn’t profile as a significant advantage and average defense is the most likely outcome of the transition.
2010 was riddled with bad luck for Craig. Despite hitting 22.5% of his balls in play as line drives, his BABIP was a mere .282. That’s well below what we’d expect and it weighed heavily on his .246 batting average. He continued to display the requisite secondary skills to be a valuable player (hitting for power and drawing some walks) but the results were undeniably uncharacteristic for Craig.
Even with these shortcomings, the pros clearly outweigh the cons and, barring the unforeseen, Craig should be a prominent part of the 2011 Cardinals. With the acquisition of Lance Berkman, Craig will serve as a backup in the outfield and potentially at third base as well. ZiPS sees a nice future for Craig projecting his 2011 slash stats at .280/.333/.438. That would be slightly above league average offensively and would give Craig the “introduction” he needs to be considered for a potentially larger role in the future.
*wRC+ is essentially a measure of offense using linear weights to determine how many runs a player was worth. That total is turned into a rate stat and the rate is them compared to league average. Thus, a wRC+ of 100 is league average; above 100 is good and below 100 is bad.
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I love Craig and I hope he gets a legitimate shot to play. All he does is produce – if he fails, he fails but give him the opportunity
Agree with riot, Craig deserves a shot to play and to prove if he either is good enough or not at the mlb level. I do wonder, however, with us just getting Nick Punto, how this may effect Craig or Greene’s chances of being with the parent team at the start of the season. TLR normally likes 12 pitchers from what ive been able to tell, so does that mean Craig or Greene start the season in Memphis?
Believe it will be Descalso and Stavi that starts the season in Memphis, with Laird, Greene, Craig, Jay and Punto as the Caerds bench.
thats the allignment i would hope for as well.
I think Punto will take Descalso’s spot leaving Greene and Craig firmly on the roster.
C- Yadi, Laird
1B – AP
2B – Schu, Punto
3B – Freese
SS – Theriot, Greene
RF – Berkman, Craig
CF – Rasmus, Jay
LF – Holliday
Plus 12 pitchers.
Secret Weapon is working with Craig on his throwing in case they need him to back-up the oft-injured Freese at third base, his original position. It apparently isn’t just about arm strength; it’s also about throwing mechanics. I’m hoping the upshot of that is that his throwing improves enough to make him a viable starter in right if his bat adjusts to the majors. I see Berkman as a transition signing for this year, while using Craig at third is one way of giving more opportunities at plate.
JMo has been reading my drumbeat of posts prophesying that he lacks the magical powers necessary to keep Aaron Miles off the Cardinals 25 roster for the entire 2012 season. So he scoured the refuse of diminutive ballplayers to find another scrappy switching hitting middle infielder to act as his Miles blocker. Punto is one year younger and one inch taller than Miles. The baseball gods laugh at this pitiful gesture. The dard lord LaRussa will not be denied. Miles cometh in 2012, one way or the other. I see it now in my mind’s eye. It’s late September 2012 and Tony is making out his lineup card. He pencils in Aaron Miles leading off playing second base. Ryan Theriot bats second playing SS. Nick Punto bats ninth playing third. And the manager sees the lineup card, that it is good, as God divided the light from the darkness so the manager divided Brendan Ryan from his chosen nine.
Why was miles a Bad thing for the cards?
Perhaps its like Catholics and evangelical Christians trying to debate the merits of their respective faiths. Those who look at Miles and say it is good are not going to be swayed by any argument put forth so I won’t attempt it. Besides, my interest in Miles has more to do with LaManager’s penchant for man crushes on certain players (with corresponding heaps of loathing for other players) than the merits of Aaron Miles himself. I respect Aaron for crafting the career he has out of what god gave him to work with.
won’t…or can’t.
For a utility player to post a .288/.332 is actually pretty decent. But please enlighten me to the career path of the Jarrett Hoffpauirs.
Actually, Nick Punto, despite being a veteran utility player, has played 3rd base more than any other position in his career. So, he’s not “another scrappy switching hitting middle infielder”–he’s bench insurance for Mr. Glass Ankles. Craig is the closest thing the Cardinals have to a back-up for Freese, and he was moved from 3rd base in the minors because of his defense. Basically, Punto isn’t replacing Miles; he’s a Lopez replacement with his head screwed on straight.
Is the title a Law and Order reference?
try Clash of the Titans, Clark
Gotcha, I was thinking of Captain Craigen from SVU