Player Profile: Colby Rasmus

It’s also important to consider the team aspects. The Cardinals as a team don’t run much in general. Rasmus hit in the 2 hole most of the year and stealing second would mean a free pass to Albert. This affected his approach as well because LaRussa told him to be more aggressive hitting in front of Pujols.

A thorough analysis of the numbers. Yet drawing firm conclusions about Rasmus’ 2008 without even mentioning his injury status leaves out a significant part of the story.

As you noted, he had very poor start, likely sulking over not making the MLB roster. Rasmus steadily improved in late May, ending the month with a ten-game on-base streak. He was on fire through June before an early July groin strain knocked him out of the lineup and the Futures Game.

Trying to work his way back, he then suffered a sprained MCL that was serious enough to put him on the DL, keep him from joining Team USA and essentially ending his season other than a short rehab stint in late August.

Rasmus’ OPS by month, 2008
April: .682
May: .643
June: .976
He only had 42 ABs the rest of the way between Triple-A and A ball.

He also had some injury issues this year, too. He had a hiatal hernia and had to change his diet drastically midseason, resulting in a weight loss of 10-20 pounds, and that would have a significant impact on any athlete’s body. He had a bit of a hot streak before he suffered from it and struggled a bit afterwards.

Also, I think the plate discipline will simply come with time. Watching him play most days, his batting eye seemed to improve throughout the season, although it may not be visible in the walk statistics. Later on he was seeing more pitches in each at-bat, fouling more off, not swinging at bad pitches, and he rarely had a poor at-bat.

Granted just saying that without any real data makes me as bad as Joe Morgan. I’d be interested to see his O-Swing and Z-Swing statistics month-by-month to see if my perception is really true.