Trade Deadline is Best Thing to Happen to St. Louis Cardinals

The deadline moves have energized this veteran group

Perhaps the biggest storyline of all relating to this trade deadline is how much these moves have seemed to energize the St. Louis veteran core. None have been hotter than the greatest right hander of this generation, Albert Pujols.

Over his last 30 games, Pujols is slashing .342/.391/.671 with 7 HR and 18 RBI and has been a huge spark plug for the club game in and game out. His 1.062 OPS has him looking like prime Albert Pujols, especially against left handed pitching. Over the course of the season, Pujols is slashing .363/.402/.700 against left handers, making him one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball against southpaws.

MVP candidates Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have continued to be lights out as of late, both posting an OPS of 1.183 and 1.052 respectively over the last 28 days. Veteran OF Corey Dickerson has gotten into the action as well, sporting a .884 OPS in that same timeframe.

Back from his spell in AAA, shortstop Paul DeJong has looked the most confident he has since his All-Star campaign in 2019, slashing .255/.344/.564 with 4 HR and 13 RBI over his last 28 days. Bringing another power bat back into the lineup in conjunction with the trades the club made has been a huge boost to a roster that was struggling a bit prior to the deadline.

Many of the other veterans on the club are seeing boosts in performance as of late as well, and that is a sign of a club that believes in themselves and feels supported by their front office. The Cardinals management was able to walk the fine line of adding talent at positions of need while not shaking up their nucleus, creating reason for each of the players on their roster to be excited about where the club is going.