To annually pull off their run-prevention approach, pitching and defense have to fit like hand … in glove.

“You’ve got to make plays,” Matheny said. “That’s something that we take a lot of pride in, to make the plays. We do preach that. I think there’s a lot of success when we keep the ball on the ground. But (to do that) the defense is going to have to make plays for us to trust them.”

The Cardinals lag behind teams like Pittsburgh when it comes to aggressively shifting the defense, but with Oquendo’s direction and catcher Yadier Molina’s approval they are constantly positioning for higher probability plays. As a player, Oquendo preferred his internal calculus to spray charts, adding up what he knew of his own pitcher with what he knew of the hitter to give himself a head start. He increased his range with reasoning.

Former pitching coach Dave Duncan maintained elaborate spray charts to help guide the defense, and now the Cardinals’ analytics department has gigabytes to influence positioning. Numbers are even drawn from a system akin to radar. Oquendo ingests these spray charts, but then checks them by watching video of the hitters and constantly auditing his own fielders for their strengths and weaknesses.

Gyorko’s first step will help Oquendo determine where he should start.