(Updated Dec. 25, 2018)
Following the advice of hitting coaches Mark McGwire and John Mabry, Matt Holliday made an adjustment in his batting stance and had his most productive game with the Cardinals.
On June 16, 2012, Holliday had four hits, including two doubles and a home run, five RBI and two runs scored in the Cardinals’ 10-7 victory over the Royals at St. Louis.
In eight years (2009-2016) with St. Louis, Holliday produced 1,048 hits in 982 games, including 156 home runs, 237 doubles and 616 RBI. He batted .293 and produced a .380 on-base percentage in his Cardinals career.
Holliday 13 times had four-hit games for the Cardinals and three times had five-RBI games for them.
Only once, though, did he have four hits and five RBI in a game for St. Louis. It happened while he was in a slump.
Finding a flaw
Holliday had gone hitless in 12 consecutive at-bats before facing the Royals. He hadn’t hit a home run in almost a month.
McGwire and Mabry spotted a flaw in Holliday’s batting stance and told him about it hours before the game.
“Looking at video and working in the batting cage, Holliday was able to right what they saw was wrong,” reported Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He became more upright at the plate and kept from bending at the waist.”
Big bat
Making what he called a “little mechanical adjustment,” Holliday went on a tear against the Royals.
He hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Bruce Chen and a RBI-double against Chen in the second. Video The home run carried 431 feet into the Big Mac section of Busch Stadium. Video
In the seventh, with the Royals ahead 7-6, Holliday hit a RBI-single off Greg Holland, tying the score. Video
Holliday capped his performance with a RBI-double off Kelvin Herrera in the eighth. Boxscore and Video
“It’s been frustrating,” Holliday said. “My swing has felt a little off. I’ve been trying to battle, trying to get a groove, trying to find a comfort zone.”
The four-hit game lifted Holliday’s batting average from .267 to .278. He finished with a stellar season for the 2012 Cardinals, hitting .295 with 27 home runs and 102 RBI.
Previously: Left field leaders: Matt Holliday, Stan Musial
I will be a happy man when that big, clumsy, pumped up bum takes his bloated wallet to the AL next year!
A future as an American League designated hitter for Matt Holliday seems a logical prediction.
An obvious prediction. The guy has been batting between 2 better hitters for years and rarely came up big. He thrives in games where the Cards score a ton, but when the opposing starter is really ON, it’s Beltran, or Berkman, Yadi, Carp or Adams that get the key RBI’s.
I dread his return. Diaz will force out a good player and then MH will force out a better player. He’s a .250 hitter that hits about 20 HRs and we got PLENTY of 20 HR guys that hit .270 or better and can FIELD their position, and they are all younger than this clod!