Freese: 4th-Best RBI Start in Recent History

Only three players in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals since 1952 drove in more runs in their first 40 games than David Freese. One is named Albert Pujols.

Monday was special for St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese in several ways. The 27-year-old had been named the National League Player of the Week that afternoon and he celebrated that evening by delivering the knockout blow to the Philadelphia Phillies in game 1 of their four-game series.

The right-handed hitter plated three with a bases-loaded double off the right field wall of Citizens Bank Park in the Cardinals’ pivotal five-run seventh inning. Freese remains on fire as he extended his hitting streak to seven straight games, during which he is 14-for-27 (.519) while driving in 14 runs. He is now 10-for-21 with men in scoring position this season.

"What David is doing is out of this world," manager Tony La Russa said after Monday’s game.

Monday marked a career milestone for Freese as well. He completed his 40^th game as a major leaguer – 17 last season and 23 here in 2010. During that time, in a total of 126 plate appearances and 112 official at-bats, Freese has amassed 26 RBI.

That total ties Freese for the fourth-fastest RBI start in the recent history of the St. Louis Cardinals franchise, since 1952.

Interestingly, all of the team’s top leaders were corner infielders. Not surprisingly, all-world first baseman Albert Pujols is first in team history with 44 RBI over his first 40 games. He was primarily a third baseman in the early stages of his rookie major league season of 2001.

Pujols is followed by a trio of players from the early 1950’s. In fact, all three did it within a two-year time span. In 1953, first-year third baseman Ray Jablonski plated 35.

Oddly, in the very next year, 1954, the Cardinals’ pair of new first basemen each achieved the feat. Tom Alston drove in 29 through his initial 40 contests and Joe Cunningham, now tied by Freese, had 26 that same season.

When considering RBI productivity per plate appearance, Freese has fourth place all to himself, following Pujols, first baseman Fred Whitfield (1962) and Jablonski. Freese is collecting RBIs slightly more frequently than one per five plate appearances. Pujols’ initial pace was better than one per four PAs.

St. Louis Cardinals, RBI, first 40 games, 1952-present

Player	G	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	SLG	BI/PA
Albert Pujols	40	174	150	55	8	1	14	44	17	25	.367	.713	.253
Ray Jablonski	40	164	156	43	9	1	6	35	8	16	.276	.462	.213
Tom Alston	40	175	154	44	11	1	4	29	18	20	.286	.448	.166
David Freese	40	126	112	39	8	1	4	26	8	26	.358	.543	.206
Joe Cunningham	40	175	157	44	7	1	6	26	17	20	.280	.452	.149
Fred Whitfield	40	103	100	29	5	1	6	24	3	17	.290	.540	.233
Ken Boyer	40	166	147	38	7	1	7	22	17	20	.259	.463	.133
J.D. Drew	40	132	113	32	8	4	7	22	15	33	.283	.611	.167
Brian Jordan	40	151	145	31	8	3	5	22	6	37	.214	.414	.146
Wally Moon	40	186	156	51	6	3	5	21	25	11	.327	.500	.113
Willie McGee	40	142	133	44	3	5	0	20	6	20	.331	.429	.141
Terry Pendleton	40	172	160	50	7	1	1	20	10	20	.313	.388	.116
Andy Van Slyke	40	138	120	29	5	1	4	19	16	24	.242	.400	.138
David Bell	38	148	142	36	7	2	2	18	4	25	.254	.373	.122
Leon Durham	40	135	120	29	6	1	4	18	9	20	.242	.408	.133
Jim Lindeman	40	129	122	27	8	0	4	18	4	29	.221	.385	.140
Gene Oliver	40	111	107	25	5	0	4	18	4	28	.234	.393	.162
John Rodriguez	40	140	122	36	6	0	4	18	12	38	.295	.443	.129
Chris Duncan	40	101	93	28	5	1	7	17	5	24	.301	.602	.168
Bo Hart	40	190	174	56	8	3	2	17	9	32	.322	.437	.089
Colby Rasmus	40	151	132	30	7	0	4	17	12	27	.227	.371	.113

A special thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the data pull.

Brian Walton can be reached via email at . Also catch his Cardinals commentary daily at The Cardinal Nation blog.

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