If I can keep it up all month, 31 days of positive posts! There's going to be enough negativity going around with the Cardinals not in the post-season.
Day 11
While Jedd Gyorko's 3rd season can be seen as a bit of a failure compared to his first two years as a Cardinal, here are some positives to take away from his 2018 season.
1) He has been an absolute model of consistency for the Cardinals in terms of wRC+ - being 112, 112, 110 the last 3 years. Basically, the Cardinals can count on him being 10+% better than league average by that measure.
2) Gyorko has raised his walk rate each of the last three seasons as a Cardinal. This year he reached 10.9% (his first time over 10% in his career). He also struck out less than 20% of the time for the first time at 19.2%. That means that a guy who struck out 3.44 times for every walk as a San Diego Padre has now had a season in which he struck out just 1.75 times per walk. He has basically halved that rate.
3) For the third straight season, Gyorko had a positive DRS and UZR/150 at third base defensively!
And my favorite stat of the year for Gyorko:
4) With a 2-run shot on April 25th, Gyorko launched his 100th home run of his career. It was a 99 mph, 383 foot shot into the left field bullpen at Busch Stadium.
Positive October Day 11, in the books!
In case you missed them: