Aggressive is out.

Opportunistic is in.

That, Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter agreed, is an accurate way to describe how he will shift his baserunning approach in major league season No. 8.

Yes, Carpenter talked baserunning Monday. Candidly, and at length.

He has had time to reflect on the topic that creates almost as much debate as a) where he hits in the lineup and b) where he plays in the infield.

Atop the list of things Carpenter "didn't like last year", he said number one was his baserunning.

"I feel like I can do a better job of that," he said. "And that has nothing to do with speed. It’s just making better decisions."

Last year, Carpenter stole two bases and got caught stealing once. Fangraphs' Base Running metric scored him at 0.4 runs above average. He was picked off just twice in 145 games.

So, why was his baserunning such a big deal?

Two reasons, really.

Carpenter, 32, is not as fast as he once was. And consumers of Cardinals baseball were reminded of that at times last season, when he would run into an out while attempting to take an extra base. Of Carpenter's 12 unforced baserunning errors, seven occurred in this situation. The only Cardinal who ran into more outs, Stephen Piscotty, is no longer a Cardinal.

The numbers don't lie. But they don't exactly tell the entire story either.

"A lot of that can be misleading sometimes because of circumstances," Carpenter said. "There are certain plays in baseball where you are forced into running into an out by the manager, or the third base coach. Whether it’s trying to score a run or move a guy or whatever. But just being aware of that and making adjustments."

This season's adjustments were aided in part by information Carpenter requested and received from the front office during this offseason. He was informed of players around the league who have a top speed similar to his own. He studied their approach and compared it to his own.

It's unrealistic to expect Carpenter to increase his speed at this point in his career. A shift in philosophy, however, could pay dividends.

"For a guy like me to go first to third, you have to find the right ball and the right play to make sure you can get it," Carpenter said. "Because it doesn’t do me any good to go first-to-third and get thrown out. That’s one thing I have to be aware of. Especially if I’m hitting third, and I got a guy like (Marcell) Ozuna behind me. Going first-to-third for him might not be as good of good play if I get thrown out and I could be standing on second with him coming to the plate. You just have to be aware of that and those are the things to work on this spring.

"Really, it comes down to awareness and just taking advantage of opportunities when they arise. Most of the things you get counted against you for baserunning is running into outs on the bases. If you can avoid that, you get graded out as a good base runner."

The Cardinals totaled the fourth-most unforced baserunning errors in baseball last season, according to STATS LLC. They were picked off 15 times, three more than any other team. They were one of six teams to lose 13-or-more outs in fly-ball, double-play situations. They were one of five teams to create 50-plus outs attempting to take an extra base.

"I think that having (third base coach Jose) Oquendo back – and that’s not saying anything [bad] against the guys who coached there – he’s going to help us as a group run the bases better," Carpenter said. "I’m excited about that."