Cards Notes: Renteria Rolling
Williams was at the ready on Tuesday
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
April 9, 2003
DENVER -- Edgar Renteria can do very little wrong at the plate right now. The Cardinals shortstop and usual No. 2 hitter is batting .333 through six games, with a .533 slugging percentage. That means he's hitting for average and hitting for power.
Neither of those is all that unusual for Renteria, who hit .305 with 49 extra-base hits in 2002. It is a bit unusual the way he's going about it. One of two Cardinals (along with Scott Rolen) to claim both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in 2002, Renteria has never been a particular patient hitter. But he's working deeper counts this year, and it's paying off.
"If I see they're not throwing strikes, I'm gonna take it," Renteria said. "Like I did in (Tuesday's) game. And if (Fernando) Vina's on first base, I take a couple pitches so Vina can steal a base and then I can move him to third base."
Renteria is seeing nearly 3.9 pitches per plate appearance over his first six games, a significant step up from his career pattern, which is more along the line of 3.6 per plate appearance. But he said it's not necessarily a planned thing.
"It's just happening," he said.
With the Cardinals' current three-game series in Colorado, Renteria goes head-to-head with the NL's other top offensive shortstop, Jose Hernandez. The two are completely opposite hitters, though. Hernandez is an all-or-nothing type, with plenty of power, but plenty of strikeouts. Renteria is more of a line-drive type hitter with doubles power and low strikeout totals.
But they share a fondness for Coors Field.
"This is a good field to hit," Renteria said. "You feel like you're the best hitter in the world."
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