Graduated from Elkins High School in Prosper, Texas...Led Elkins High School to the USA Today Prep National Championship in 2002...Was a 2004 second-team All-American and graduated as the school’s all-time leader in hits...Played college ball at Texas Christian University and left as the TCU career leader in games (241) and at-bats (843) and was a three-time Mountain West Conference selection...Hit two homers in 2009 Austin Super Regional vs. No. 4 Texas...Named by the MLBPA as the Cardinals Heart and Hustle Award winner in 2013, 2014 and 2015, given to players who demonstrate a passion for the game and best embodies the values, spirit and tradition of the game...Since 2014, has served as a charter member of the Taylor Hooton Foundation’s “Advisory Board” of Major League players...Dedicates himself a role model for our nation’s youth about the dangers of Appearance and Performance-Enhancing Supplements...His father, Rick, the baseball coach at Prosper (Texas) High School, was named Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in 2014 and had Elkins High School baseball field named after him in 2015...His younger brother, Tyler, played college baseball at UT-San Antonio and two seasons in the Mets organization...Matt and his wife, Mackenzie, have been a regular supporters of Homers for Health program that helps children and families in partnership with SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital...With the assistance of teammate Adam Wainwright in 2018, began producing and sharing his lucky homemade salsa that was made from ingredients from his home garden…Teamed with Schnucks markets to sell his homemade secret recipe, “Bueño Mojo Salsa,” and donated a portion of the proceeds to Cardinals Care…Sold “It’s Gotta Be The Salsa” t-shirts to raise money for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital...In 2019, Matt Carpenter Field was dedicated in his honor at the Pagedale Family Resource Center in Pagedale, Mo...Matt is one of a select few players who do not wear batting gloves...Decided to keep the mustache that he had grown while with the Yankees into the 2023 season because the TCU football team had done especially well while he had his mustache, advancing to the NCAA College Football Championship...Originally selected by the Cardinals in the 13th round (399th overall) of the 2009 MLB Draft by Jeff Luhnow...Signed by Aaron Krawiec...Resides in Glen Rose, Texas with his wife, Mackenzie, daughter, Kinley and son Kannon.
2023
Signed a two-year contract with San Diego and appeared in 76 games for the Padres before landing on the season-ending 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation (9/15)...Served mostly as a designated hitter in 55 games (48 starts)...Logged 81.0 innings (13 games) at first base for his only action in the field and turned in a perfect fielding pct...Batted .250/.369/.538 (13-52) with a .908 OPS in the season's first month (March 30-April 30) of the season...Hit .128 (15-117) with a .459 OPS from May-July...Saw the majority of his playing time from March 30-June 30, appearing in 59 games at a .180 clip (27-150) before making just 17 appearances after July 1 (.158 BA)...Walked 41 times against 67 strikeouts...His 0.61 walk/strikeout ratio was his highest since 2018 (0.65), while his 5.78 PA/walk ratio was his best since 2017 (5.71)...Batted .310/.444/.595 (13-42) with a 1.040 OPS in 21 games against the NL West Division...Made eight starts from July 24-Sept. 10 and hit .278 (5-18) with one homer, one double, four RBI and nine walks...Reached base in 11 of his final 14 games in which he registered an AB (.413 OBP), including a season-best, eight-game on-base streak from Aug. 19-Sept. 10 (.278/.517/.500)...Did not appear in a game from July 25-Aug. 14, making him the only player in the Majors who was continually on an active roster to not appear in a game during that span (source: Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune)...Went 2-for-4 with an RBI on Aug. 28 at St. Louis, with both hits coming off Adam Wainwright, who signed a baseball to Carpenter with "the luckiest two-hit game of your career"...In his final game of the season on Sept. 10 at Houston, connected with his fifth home run and first since May 21...Placed on the season-ending 10-day injured list on Sept. 12 with right elbow inflammation...Traded to Atlanta with left-handed pitcher Ray Kerr and cash for outfielder Drew Campbell on Dec. 15...Was released by the Braves on Dec. 18.
2022
After beginning the season with Triple-A Round Rock in the Texas Rangers organization, he was released on May 19 and signed a Major League contract with the Yankees on May 26... in 47 games with NYY, he hit .305 (39-for-128) with 9 doubles, 15 HR, 19 walks, 37 RBI and 28 runs scored....Proceeded to become the first player in Yankee history to hit14 homers within his first 29 hits and just the third player in the Modern Era (since 1900) to do so with any team, joining Mark McGwire (17 HR in 1997 with St. Louis) and Derek Dietrich (16 HR in 2019 with Cincinnati)....Hit 15 home runs in 154 plate appearances in 2022 after hitting seven HR in 418 PA over his previous two seasons from 2020-21…his 15 homers from May 26-Aug. 8 were tied for the sixth-most in the AL and T-12th most in the Majors over that span....Hit .333 (11-for-33) against LHP and .295 (28-for-95) vs. RHP....Among all players in with at least 150 plate appearances overall, Carpenter led the big leagues in OPS (1.138) and slugging percentage (.727), just ahead of former teammate and the AL MVP award winner, Aaron Judge (1.111 OPS/.686SLG)....Was the only Yankee other than Judge to win an AL Player of the Week honor (won for the week of July 11-17 after hitting.400 in a five-game span)....Appeared defensively in RF (12 games), first base (five G), leftfield (three G), third base (two G)...also made 16 starts as the DH...Placed on the 10-day IL on Aug. 9 with a left foot fracture...transferred to the 60-day IL on October 2 before being reinstated on Oct. 11.
POSTSEASON: Appeared in six Postseason games for NYY, hitting .083 (1-for-12) with nine punch outs...utilized as a pinch-hitter four times and was the designated hitter twice.
2021
Made starts at 2B (29), 1B (9), 3B (4), and DH (2) in final year with STL…started just 12 of the Cardinals’ final 72 games beginning 7/11…hit .150 (9-60) with 2 HR and 9 RBI as a pinch-hitter, ranking among the N.L. pinch leaders in total appearances (1st, 77), walks (1st, 14), at bats (2nd), and runs (3rd, 9)…made his 1st MLB pitching appearance in 13-3 loss on 5/15 at SD (1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R). Hit just .114 (8-70) over 1st 42 games through 5/24…had a .267 (24-90) in his next 51 contests, improving to a season-best .200 on 8/7…was just 3-for-47 with no RBI in his last 37 games, going 0-for-31 (5 BB, 1 HBP) over a 24-game span from 8/8-9/15… drove in 3 runs on 4 occasions and has 2 hits 3 times…was just 1-for-18 vs. LHP.
2020
NL Ranks: Hit by pitch (6, T-8th), Lowest GIDP pct. (2.3%, 8th)...Was shifted on in 97.0% of his plate appearances, most in MLB among players with 20 or more plate appearances... Since 2017, has the lowest GIDP pct. in the NL (2.9%)...Started 29 games at third base, four at first base and 13 as the designated hitter...Batted .250 (11-44, HR) as the DH...Led the Cardinals in go-ahead RBI (8) and co-led in game-winning RBI (4) with Kolten Wong...Tallied an RBI in five straight games with an at-bat, longest streak by a Cardinal (T-7th longest in NL)...Was 2-for-3 with a grand slam, 10 RBI and three walks with the bases loaded (2.524 OPS). Owns the highest career BA with bases loaded in MLB history (.491, 28-57)...Hit his second career grand slam at Chicago Cubs (8/19 [1]). Both of his grand slams have been hit in the first game of doubleheaders (4/27/17 vs. Toronto [1]).
2020 POSTSEASON: Hit .222/.429/.333 in three Wild Card Series games vs. San Diego...reached base safely in six of 14 plate appearances...became the Cardinals all-time postseason leader in sacrifice flies (4) with a first inning launch to score Yadier Molina in Game 1... scored a postseason career-high three runs in Game 2, reaching base on a double, walk and hit by pitch...his 2nd inning double moved him into 5th place in Cardinals postseason history (9), 6th place in extra-base hits (16)...surpassed David Freese for 6th place all-time in Cardinals postseason games played (50) and tied Carlos Beltran for 7th place postseason RBI (21).
2019
Ranked 3rd on the Cardinals in walks (63), 5th in home runs (15), T6th in runs (59) and T2nd in sacrifice flies (5), while posting career-high six stolen bases at the age of 33...Hit 13 solo home runs (3rd on St. Louis) for the season, one two-run and one three-run...Hit game-winning solo homer (#13) in the 10th inning at Chicago Cubs (9/19) off Craig Kimbrel in 5-4 win in the first win of a four-game series sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. (9/19-9/22) Marked his 4th career homer in extra-innings...Homered (#14) on 9/27 vs. Chicago Cubs and reached base safely four times. Marked 100th career solo homer and 147th homer of his career...Hit five homers and had 14 RBI in May, his highest monthly total of the season in both categories...Batted .267 (16-60, 10 RBI) in September, his highest batting average in any month of the season...Hit a pinch-hit walk-off single vs. Cincinnati (8/31) in Game 2 of doubleheader; his 7th career walk-off RBI...Passed Ken Boyer (634) for 9th all-time in walks (641) in Cardinals history at Milwaukee (8/26)...Scored his 700th career run vs. Milwaukee (8/19), becoming the 21st Cardinal in club history to amass 700 runs...Moved past Jim Edmonds into 7th place in Cardinals history with 132 career multiple-walk games...Collected his 1,000th career hit on 3/29 at Milwaukee, becoming the 6th player with 1,000 career hits exclusively as a member of the Cardinals. Joined Stan Musial (3,630), Yadier Molina (1,963), Marty Marion (1,402), Terry Moore (1,318) and Pepper Martin (1,227)...Collected season-high three RBI on final day of the season, hitting a three-run home run (#15) vs. Chicago Cubs (9/29). Was his first homer with more than one runner on base since 8/13/18 vs. Washington and his 21st career home run vs. the Cubs, his most against any MLB opponent...Made two starts and appeared in four Division Series games vs. Atlanta, going 1-for-5 with 3 RBI...reached base safely in five of his 9 plate appearances and recorded an RBI in three of four games...hit pinch-hit RBI single to left field to tie the game 3-3 in the 7th inning of Game 1 (10/3/19)...did not appear in Game 2, marking his first postseason game missed since Game 5 of the 2012 LCS vs. San Francisco (32 straight postseason contests)...recorded sac fly in Game 3, tying Tom Herr for the most career sacrifice flies (3) by a Cardinal in postseason history; since his postseason career began in 2012, tied with Brandon Belt (SF) and Eric Hosmer (KC) for most in postseason play...drew bases loaded walk for an RBI and came around to score in 10-run 1st inning of Game 5; removed for a defensive replacement in the bottom of the 1st.
2018
Garnered votes for the Most Valuable Player Award by Baseball Writers of America (9th place finish) and was a Major League Baseball All-Star Final Vote finalist...2018 Hank Aaron Award Nominee...Voted NL Player of the Month for July, his first monthly award and the first Cardinals N.L. Player of the Month selection since Albert Pujols (August 2010)...Led the National League in July in runs (22), home runs (11), extra-base hits (19), and slugging (.774); ranked 2nd in on-base pct. (.447), T2nd in walks (19), T4th in doubles (8), T5th in RBI (21), 6th in hits (31)...Led MLB with 11 home runs in July and ranked T-6th in August with 9, but led MLB with 20 HR over those two months combined...Was the first Cardinals player with double-digit home runs in July since Jim Edmonds with 13 (July 2004)...Twice named National League Player of the Week: July 16-22 and July 29-August 5...Set Busch Stadium III record with 318 career runs scored, surpassing Albert Pujols (312)...Drew 100 or more walks for the second straight season, joining Joey Votto as the only two players in MLB to draw 100 or more walks in each of the last two seasons and the first Cardinal since Albert Pujols (2008-10)...Joined Mike Trout and Carlos Santana as the only three players with 80 or more walks in last five seasons (2014-18)...Walked two or more times in 24 games, ranking T3rd in the NL and T5th in MLB...His 42 doubles, 36 home runs and 102 walks had him join Albert Pujols (2008-09) and Stan Musial (1949, '53-54) as the only Cardinals to hit 40 doubles, 30 home runs, and draw 100 walks in a season...Is the only MLB player to hit 30 or more doubles and draw 70 or more walks over the last six seasons (2013-18). Only Stan Musial (14) and Albert Pujols (9) have more in Cardinals history...Did not hit into a double play during the entire 2018 season (last: 9/4/17 at SD)...Became the first MLB player to play an entire season with 550 or more at-bats and no GIDP's since Craig Biggio (1997) with the Houston Astros and the first all-time with the St. Louis Cardinals... Led MLB with a 0.0 GIDP percent...Became the first Cardinal since Albert Pujols (2008-09) and the first Major Leaguer since Miguel Cabrera (2011, DET) to score 100 runs, draw 100 walks, hit 40 doubles and 30 home runs in a single season. It marked the 32nd instance all-time in MLB history, and first ever without hitting into a double play during the season...His career high and team-leading 36 home runs in 2018 were the most hit by a Cardinal since Albert Pujols (37) in 2011 and the most by a Cardinals left-handed hitter since Jim Edmonds (42) in 2004. He finished the season ranked T-6th (Stan Musial, 1949) among Cardinals left-handed batters in single season home runs... Was the only MLB player in 2018 to lead his team in home runs (36) and start 100 or more games from the leadoff spot in the same season, and second Cardinal in franchise history, joining Jesse Burkett (10 HR, 141 GS) in 1901 (Elias)...Ranked among NL leaders in home runs (T-3rd), doubles (42, T-4th), runs (111, 3rd), walks (102, 4th), intentional walks (17, 2nd), OBP (.374, 10th), SLG (.523, 9th), extra-base hits (78, T-3rd), total bases (295, 8th), times on base (253, 8th)...Ranked 5th in AB/HR (15.67), his best season ratio, surpassing 20.50 in 2015 when he hit 28 home runs...Ranked 5th in the NL in pitches/PA (4.21) and PA/BB (6.64)...Led the Cardinals with 156 games played (T16th NL)...Tied for the NL lead (César Hernández, José Peraza & Trea Turner) in bunt singles (8)...Led MLB with 50 extra-base hits on the road and the NL with 23 home runs hit on the road (Khris Davis, OAK, 25)...Broke Cardinals record with 23 career lead-off home runs (Lou Brock, 21) and established a new single-season record with eight lead-off home runs...Surpassed Brock with his 22nd career lead-off home run vs. COL (7/31) off Jon Gray...Tied for the National League lead with Ronald Acuña, Jr. (ATL) hitting eight leadoff home runs trailing only Francisco Lindor (CLE, 9) for the MLB lead...Hit Cardinals record eight home runs vs. Chicago in 2018, including six during a five-game series in July...Led MLB with 8 HR, 19 RBI and 14 runs scored over 19 games against the Cubs, tied Jim Edmonds for the most home runs by a Cardinal vs. CHI in a single season and had the most HR vs. the Cubs in a single-season since Greg Vaughn (9) with Cincinnati in 1999...Raised batting average from .140 on 5/16 to a season-high .283 on 8/4, batting .345 (92-267) with 25 HR, 46 RBI, 27 doubles, 61 runs and slugged .727; leading MLB in batting, slugging, home runs, hits, runs and doubles during period...Hit his 3rd career walk-off home run vs. MIL (4/10), coming in the 11th inning, his 3rd career extra inning home run and 5th career walk-off RBI...Hit 100th career home run (5/1), a game-tying shot in the 9th inn. vs. CWS off Joakim Soria...Went 5-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI and five runs (tied franchise record) on 6/26 vs. CLE, becoming the first Cardinals player in recorded history with that stat line (5 hits/5 runs/2 HR). Was his 5th career multi-home run game...Posted two multi-homer games, both on days going 5-for-5...Hit his 2nd career pinch-hit home run at SF (7/8) coming off Ray Black into McCovey Cove. Was the first Cardinals home run into San Francisco Bay since Larry Walker accomplished the feat 13 years to the day (7/8/05)...Recorded historic day at CHI (7/20) with 5 extra-base hits (3 HR, 2 2B), 7 RBI and 4 runs scored. Tied club record (Mark Whiten, 1993) with 16 total bases. Had the Cardinals' first three-homer game since Albert Pujols (2010) & tied Lou Brock's club mark with 21st career leadoff home run...Reached base safely in career-high 35 straight games (7/8-8/17), 4th-longest on-base streak in MLB in 2018 and longest by a Cardinal since Matt Holliday reached base safely in 44 straight in 2015... Homered in six straight games (7/14-7/21), the longest streak in the NL and 2nd-longest in MLB (K. Morales, 7, 8/198/26). Tied Cardinals record held by Mark McGwire, which spanned from 1997-98, but was longest in one season...Became the first MLB player to reach the 30 home run/30 double plateau (8/7 at MIA)...Tied a Major League record and franchise record hitting four doubles at COL (8/26), the first Cardinal to do so since Joe "Ducky" Medwick in 1937...Went 19 games between his 34th (8/31) and 35th (9/21) home runs, his 2nd-longest homerless stretch behind 34 games in 2017...Faced five different pitchers vs. MIL (9/24): 1-for-4, RBI double, hit-by-pitch.
2017
Posted a career and team-high 109 walks, the 8th player in Cardinals history (15th instance) to post 100 or more walks. Ranked 2nd in the N.L. in walks. Was 6th-highest season walk total in Cardinals history... Appeared in a team-high 145 games, starting 110 at 1B, 16 at 3B and 13 at 2B...Led the Cardinals in doubles (31) and extra base hits (56)...Hit three lead-off home runs (6/24 vs. PIT off Gerrit Cole, 9/20 at CIN off Rookie Davis, 9/26 vs. CHI off Jake Arrieta), bringing his career total to 15, 2nd-most in Cardinals history...Smacked 30 doubles and drew over 70 walks for the 5th consecutive season...Hit 30 doubles, 20 home runs, 100 walks, joining Albert Pujols (2008-10), Stan Musial (1949, 53-54) and Jim Edmonds (2004) as the only Cardinals to achieve those marks...Had an extra base hit in 7 straight games (6/10-16), the longest streak by a Cardinal in 2017...Walked a career-high four times on 9/12 vs. CIN...Scored in eight straight games (4/30-5/8) tying the Cardinals season high...Had a season-high 21-game on-base streak (6/22-7/18), his longest in-season on-base streak since 2013...Twelve of his 23 home runs tied the game or gave the Cardinals the lead...Of his 23 home runs, 12 were solo home runs...Hit first career grand slam vs. TOR (4/27 - G1) off J.P. Howell, a one-out walk-off shot in the 11th inning. His 4th career walk-off RBI and 2nd career walk-off home run. Was Cardinals first walk-off extra inning grand slam since Tom Herr (4/18/1987 vs. NYM).
2016
Earned 3rd selection to the National League All-Star Team, but did not play due to injury...Led the Cardinals with a .380 on-base percentage and .505 slugging percentage...Hit 36 doubles in 2016 and has 168 over the past four seasons, the most of any MLB player...Became the first player in MLB history to start at least 40 games each at first base, second base and third base during a season in which he hit 20 or more home runs...Batted .377 in Interleague games, ranking 6th in MLB. His .339 career batting average in Interleague games leads active players and ranks 4th all-time...Ranked 7th in the National League with 81 walks. Is the only N.L. player with 80 or more walks in each of the last three seasons (2014-16)...Tallied his 4th-straight season with 70 walks and 30 doubles, joining Mike Trout and Josh Donaldson as the only three players in MLB to do so from 2013-16...Ranked T5th in MLB (T3rd NL) with 23 multiple walk games...Posted 32 multiple hit games and has 193 over the past four seasons (T8th MLB). • Hit three lead-off home runs in 2016 (5/10 at LAA, 8/10 vs. CIN, 8/24 vs. NYM) and has 12 in his career. Ranks T16th among active MLB players in lead-off HR...Has 42 home runs from No. 1 spot in the lineup over the last two seasons, ranking 3rd in the Majors behind Brian Dozier (49) and Charlie Blackmon (46)...Batted 3rd in eight games following Matt Holliday going on the DL (8/12), from 8/13-23, and was 7-32 (.219) with a double...Hit six triples, ranking 2nd on the team and his most since hitting seven in 2013...Was named National League Player of the Week (5/30-6/5), batting .560 (14-25) with five doubles, two triples, three RBI and an OPS of 1.497, included back-to-back four-hit games at MIL (5/30-31). Occured following the birth of his first child...Scored in a team-high seven straight games twice (9/5-11 & 6/3-10), matching his career high...Tied team-high with 3 BB in 1st career game batting in the No. 3 position at ARI (4/26)...Hit his first career walk-off home run vs. PIT (5/7), a two-run shot off A.J. Schugel...Recorded a career-high 6 RBI vs. COL (5/19), going 3-5 with two doubles...Reached base safely in 18 straight games (6/3-26) posting a .400 BA, .530 OBP and hit safely in 17 of the 18 games, with two walks in the game he did not record a hit...The Cardinals were 17-2 in games during which Carpenter homered...Doubled and scored in the 1st inning and connected for a game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the 9th to lead St. Louis to a 6-4 win vs. PIT (5/7)...Carpenter was the first player in franchise history to hit a walkoff home run after having led off the first inning with an extra-base hit...last in MLB was Angel Pagan (SF) vs. COL 5/25/13...Compiled back-to-back four-hit efforts at Milwaukee (5/30-5/31), becoming the first Cardinal to achieve feat since Bernard Gilkey (6/30-7/1/1993 vs. PHI)...Recorded four-hit, four-run, two-triple, two-RBI game on 5/31 at MIL, becoming the 11th player in MLB history and the first since Atlanta's Willie Harris (7/21/07 vs. STL) to do so...Hit 11 doubles in May, tied for the National League high with Jon Jay and Jonathan Villar...Led the N.L. with a .491 OBP in June (T7th highest OBP mark in June in franchise history) and ranked T2nd in walks (23) and 10th in batting average (.349)...Tallied a extra base hit in 6-straight games 6/4-10, with a double in five straight games. Ranked T5th among MLB players in consecutive games with doubles...Hit two home runs and a triple for the first time in his career at SEA (6/26), the 2nd time in his career with 11 total bases (7/30/15 vs. COL)...Missed 24 games on the disabled list (7/7-8/4) with a right oblique injury...Hit game-tying pinch-hit HR (No. 18) in 9th inning at PIT (9/6) for his 1st career PH home run, and in the process set the team MLB single-season PH-HR record with 15. Was part of a three-home run barrage in the 9th inning in a Cardinals 9-7 comeback win...Homered on 3-0 count to give St. Louis the lead in final regular season game vs. PIT (10/2). His first career homer on a 3-0 count.
2015
Led the team with 84 RBI and 28 home runs; the 28 home runs were a career high and most by a left-handed hitting STL third baseman in franchise history and the most by a STL left-handed batter since Jim Edmonds in 2005 (29)…Garnered votes for the Most Valuable Player Award by Baseball Writers of America (12th place finish)…Led the National League and St. Louis in doubles (44) and led the team in runs (101, 5th)…Collected 51 multi-hit games, T5th in the N.L. ..Had 7-straight multi-hit games 4/12-19 (.467, 14-30) and at least one in each game was an extra-base hit, the first since MIL's Paul Moliter in 1991 to do so (also 7 games) and joins Ripper Collins in 1935 as the only Cardinals to accomplish the feat…Had five-straight games with a double 4/13-18 (7 doubles)…Led the club in walks (81, 8th), on-base pct. (.365, 14th) and a career-high slugging pct. (.505, 8th)…Saw 4.22 pitches/plate appearance, 3rd in the N.L. and was 4th in the league in percentage of pitches taken (61.0)…Led the Cardinals with 14 game-winning RBI, T7th in the league…Batted .327 (36-110) with runners in scoring position, 12th in the N.L…Scored two+ runs in 21 games, the team going 17-4 in those contests…Hit five lead-off home runs, tying the club single-season record held by Lou Brock and Ray Lankford…In 80 games batting leadoff, hit .312 (98-314, 22 HR) with 22 HR to set a STL record, breaking Lou Brock's 1968 (21) mark. ..Played at second base for the first time since 2013 on 7/7 at CHI; made 9 starts and played 11 games at second…Started at first base on 8/27 for the first time since 2013, moved to 1st on two other occasions…Batted .293 with 22 hits vs. A.L. teams in 2015. Has a career .328 average in interleague play, the 2nd-highest among active players (min. 250 PA)…Had a 12-game hit streak 4/12-25 (.423) and was named National League Player of the Week during that span (week of 4/13-19). Also had a 10-game hit streak 8/4-14 (.368)…Missed four games due to extreme fatigue 5/7-10…Had his 1st career multi-HR game 7/30 vs. COL when he went 4-5 (2 HR, 2B) and scored 4 times. Had a season-high 4 RBI on 4 occasions (also 4/12, 5/5 & 9/23)…Was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle on 9/17 at MIL…Named by MLB Player's Alumni Association as the Cardinals 2015 Heart and Hustle Award winner, an honor he's received 3-straight years. One player from each MLB team is chosen based on their passion, desire and work ethic on and off the field.
2014
Played in a single-season high 158 games, 5th in the National League...Named to National League All-Star Team by manager selection, but did not play. It was his second-straight All-Star selection...Ranked among N.L. leaders in runs (99, 3rd), at-bats (595, 10th), on-base percentage (.375, 7th), singles (119, T9th) and plate appearances per walk (7.46, 3rd)...Led the Cardinals with 162 hits (20th in N.L.) and 47 multi-hit games (T14th). Hit 33 doubles and recorded 43 extra-base hits...Led the National League with 4.37 pitches/plate appearance...Led the National League with 95 walks, which was also the highest single-season total by a Cardinals third baseman...Became the first Cardinals player to lead the N.L. in walks since Mark McGwire (1998), first Cardinals left-handed batter since Stan Musial (1953) and the first N.L. player with less than 10 HR to do so since Brett Butler (1991)...Ranked T3rd in the N.L. with a single-season best nine sacrifice flies. Has 23 sac flies over the past three seasons, T6th in MLB and 2nd in the N.L. (Posey, SF 24)...Led the majors in percentage of pitches taken (66.9) and ranked 3rd in N.L. in fewest pct. of swings and misses (11.9)...Batted .305 on the road, 8th in the N.L...Hit two lead-off home runs: 6/18 vs. NYM (Colon) & 7/22 vs. TB (Odorizzi)...Recorded a hit in 14 consecutive games, 5/18-6/1 (23-59, .390, 7-2B, 3B, 3 RBI), 2nd longest hitting streak on the team...Tallied a career-high 5 hits at KC (6/4)...Agreed to a six-year contract extension with the team on March 8, with a club option for a 7th year...Started all nine postseason games at third base...Hit four home runs during the postseason, T5th in Cardinals franchise history for a single postseason (6-Larry Walker and Albert Pujols in 2004, 5-David Freese and Pujols in 2011)...Went 6-16 during the Division Series vs. Los Angeles Dodgers including 3 doubles, 3 home runs and 7 RBI...Had two hits in DS Game 1, a 6th inning solo home run and bases clearing double in the 7th that gave STL a 7-6 lead, both off Clayton Kershaw...Hit game-tying 2-run home run in the 8th during DS Game 2 and solo HR in Game 3, becoming the 1st ever Cardinal to hit a home run in 3 consecutive games of a single postseason series...Hit his 4th HR of the postseason with a solo shot in the 3rd of League Championship Game 2...All four home runs came from the leadoff spot, T3rd with Carl Crawford (LAD 2013) for the most all-time in a single postseason while hitting first in the order, trailing PHI Lenny Dykstra (6HR, 1993) and LAD Davey Lopes (5HR, 1978)...Led off LCS Game 4 with a double, his 8th extra-base hit of the postseason and all coming while hitting leadoff, tying him with OAK Rickey Henderson ('89), PHI Lenny Dykstra ('93) and NYY Derek Jeter ('09) for the most extra-base hits in a single postseason by a leadoff hitter.
2013
Played in 157 games, batting lead-off in 136. Moved to leadoff role on 5/2 and remained there the rest of the season... Selected by vote of players to the National League All-Star team, his first selection. Came in the game at second base and was 0-for-2 at the plate... Led the Major Leagues in runs (126), hits (199), doubles (55), multi-hit games (63) and tied for the MLB lead with three-hit games (18)... Ranked among N.L. leaders in batting (.318, 5th), on-base pct (.392, 7th), walks (72, T9th) extra base hits (73, 3rd), total bases (301, 3rd), triples (7, 7th), singles (126, 5th) and sacrifice flies (7, T5th)... Honored with the Silver Slugger, presented by Louisville Slugger, awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in each league, voted on by Major League managers and coaches... His 55 doubles broke the Cardinals franchise record for a left-handed batter (Stan Musial, 53 in 1953). Became 21st player in MLB history with 55 or more doubles... 55 doubles also were the most by a Cardinals primary second baseman, eclipsing Rogers Hornsby's 46 in 1922 and most by a Cardinal since Albert Pujols' 51 in 2003 & '04... Batted .388 with runners in scoring position (45-for-116), ranking 4th in the N.L... Saw 4.12 pitches per plate appearance, 7th in N.L. and 2nd among primary N.L. lead-off hitters... Led N.L. in home batting (.360), and MLB in runs (70) and hits (112) at home. His 112 hits at Busch Stadium set a new stadium record... Posted .279 batting average with two strikes, the highest in the N.L., while his 37 RBI with two strikes ranked 5th in the league. Ranked 7th in the N.L. with 35 two-out RBI... His 63 multi-hit games were most by a Cardinal since Albert Pujols (63) in 2003... Became the first MLB player since Dustin Pedroia (2008) and sixth Cardinals player all-time to collect 50 doubles, 115 runs, and 180 hits in a single-season, joining Albert Pujols (2003 & 2004), Stan Musial (1946 & 1953) and Joe Medwick (1936)... His 69 RBI, 63 extra base hits, 110 runs, 178 hits and .486 slugging pct. were tops amongst all Major League leadoff men... His 69 RBI from the leadoff position were the most by a Cardinals #1 batter since Lou Brock had 76 in 1967 and his 63 extra base hits were the most since Brock had 66 in 1968... His 110 runs from the No. 1 position rank 2nd among Cardinals since 1974, trailing only Vince Coleman's mark of 121 in 1987...Tallied 30 or more hits in May (37), June (38), August (35) and September (38)... Put together career-best 18-game hitting streak (5/21-6/9), 2nd longest on the team and 6th longest in the National League... Set a Cardinals team record and tied an MLB record by getting hit by pitch three times in one game (6/4 vs. ARI)... Was a part of two of the Cardinals three back-to-back HR instances (4/26 wtih Carlos Beltran vs. PIT & 6/6 with Shelby Miller vs. ARI)... Turned 106 double plays, most by any N.L. middle infielder in 2013. Also played 42 games at 3B, two at 1B and two in RF... Started all 17 postseason games at second base...had a hit in 5 of 6 League Championship Series games vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers...reached base three times (2BBs, 1B) in LCS Game 1 and tripled in Game 2 to lead off the 1st...had RBI-2B in LCS Game 4 win to drive in team's first run of the game; also scored on Matt Holliday's home run...his 11-pitch at-bat in the 3rd inning of LCS Game 6 led to a double, he then scored the first run of the game; also had a sac fly...hit .296 (8-27) in the World Series vs. Boston with multi-hit games three times...his sac fly in WS Game 2 in the top of the 7th tied the game at 2...had two hits, scored both times during WS Game 3...singled twice and scored one of team's two runs in Game 4...had three hits in WS Game 6.
2012
Spent his first full season in the Majors with St. Louis where he excelled off the bench. Made 30 starts at 1B, 22 at 3B, 10 in RF, three in LF and two at 2B. Twenty five of his 45 RBI came at home. Had 11 pinch-hit RBI,T2nd in NL, and the most by a St. Louis rookie since Joe Frazier(15, 1954, team record). Was 8-for-31 (.258) as pinch hitter, 11 RBI and 5 doubles. Topped all National League rookies with a .365 on-base pct., finished 4th in batting avg.(.294),T4th in triples (5), 5th with 34 walks, 6th in slugging (.463), 7th in 2B's (22), 8th in RBI(46), T8th with 44 runs scored, T9th with 33 extra-base hits and 10th with 87 hits overall. Finished with 7 sacrifice flies, the most by Cardinals rookie since Albert Pujols had 7 in 2001. Ranked 3rd in all of MLB with .268 BA(44-164) when batting with two strikes. Injured his right oblique on 5/22 and was placed on the 15-day disabled list 5/23-6/22, missing 27 games. Played in six games between Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA) on a rehab assignment, going 4-17 (.235) with a home run and three RBI. Recorded first career stolen base on 7/24 vs. LAD. His HR snapped 6-6 tie in 4th inn. at CHI(7/27)& was GWRBI; had six GWRBI. Collected a career-best 4 hits twice: 4/15 vs. CHI and 8/12 at PHI. His season high hit streak occurred in September, hitting in 12-straight from 9/12-24 (17-42, .405, 3B, HR, 5 RBI).
2012 POSTSEASON: Had five pinch at-bats during the postseason...picked up an RBI,infield pinch-hit during the Wild Card game at Atlanta... came off the bench to play RF in Game 3 of the League Championship vs.San Francisco (Beltran injury) and hit 2-run HR in the 3rd to give Cards lead/win ... made his first postseason start in Game 4 of the LCS, starting at first-he walked twice, doubled, and scored twice...started Game 6 in SF at first base (Holliday injury) and reached base twice with single and BB.
2011
Began the season in Memphis (AAA) after a solid spring training in which he batted .333 (17-51), 7 RBI in 21 games while leading the team in triples (3)...Made 122 starts at third base and played in 130 games at Memphis, 2nd on the team in games played...Was purchased from Memphis on 6/3 and optioned back to Memphis following the game in Washington on 6/14...Made his Major League debut starting at third base vs. CHI (6/4)...Recorded his first Major League hit, a two-out double off Kerry Wood in the bottom of the 9th vs. CHI (6/4)...Started four of his seven games played in the Major Leagues, all at third base and was flawless in 13 total chances...Led the Pacific Coast League and all of Triple-A with 84 walks (ranked 8th in Minor League Baseball)...Ranked 4th in the PCL in on-base percentage (.417)...Batted .300 on the season, ranking 9th among Cardinals farmhands. Finished in the Cardinals Top 10 in on-base percentage
(.417, 1st), runs (61, 10th), hits (130, 5th), doubles (29, 3rd) and RBI (70, T5th)...Reached base safely in 27 consecutive games from 5/5 to 6/2, batting .300 (27-90) with an on-base pct. of .441 during run...Posted a career-best five hits going 5-for-6 vs. Omaha (7/19).
2010
Named Cardinals 2010 Minor League Player of the Year, batting .309 with 13 home runs, 69 RBI and 31 doubles. Led all Cardinals minor leaguers with 93 runs, 153 hits and a .418 on-base percentage. Also tallied 41 multi-hit games, including 17 three-hit games. ... Played in 133 games, beginning the season with 28 at Palm Beach (A), before being promoted to Springfield on 5/10, where he played the rest of the season (105 games). ... Selected as a reserve to the North Squad in the Texas League All-Star game. Went 0-for-2, playing four innings at third base. ... Named to the Texas League Post-Season All-Star team as the designated hitter. ... Honored as the Texas League Player-of-the-Week twice (7/19-25, .345, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 9 runs) and (8/2-8, .593, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 10 runs, 2 SB). ... Ranked 4th in the Texas Lg. in batting (.316) and walks (64), 3rd in on-base percentage (.412) and 5th in runs scored (76). ... Posted an on-base streak of 26 consecutive games (7/30-8/25), the fifth longest in the Texas League. ... Tallied a career-high four hits in a game twice (7/13 vs. MID & 8/6 at TUL). ... Hit safely in 21 of his first 23 games upon promotion to Springfield (.400, 38-for-95) with 11 multi-hit games. ... Led Texas League third basemen with a .973 fielding percentage (8 E, 293 TC), including assists (222), total chances (293) and games played at third base (104). ... Reached base safely in 25 of 28 games at Palm Beach including an 11-game hit streak (4/10-22) and a 10-game walk streak (4/17-27).
2009
Played in 70 games with three different affiliated teams, playing 9 games in Batavia (SS-R), 29 in Quad Cities (A), before finishing the season with 32 games at Palm Beach (A)...ascended through three levels of the Cardinals system, making him the highest promoted player from the 2009 draft class landing in Palm Beach (A)...recorded a hit in his first professional game (6/19 vs. AUB)...hit first professional home run off Tim Stronach
(8/28 at STL) of St. Lucie.
