4 surprising players who are off to strong starts for the St. Louis Cardinals

Things aren't going as well for the St. Louis Cardinals as fans and the organization may have wanted. After sweeping the Minnesota Twins (4-9) at home to start the year, the Cardinals then lost three consecutive series to the Los Angels Angeles (8-4), Boston Red Sox (7-7), and Pittsburgh Pirates (5-8). The Cardinals return home for a series against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5-7 record and sole possession of third place in the National League Central.

However, we are starting to get an idea of who this team is after a dozen games.

The Cardinals are a team that will rely heavily on its offense and defense this year. Prior to games on Friday, the club ranks second in baseball in batting average, second in on-base percentage, and fourth in wRC+. The offense hasn't been a problem this year, and they've averaged six runs per game this year.

The defense has also been solid this year. Brendan Donovan is playing at second base, his most comfortable position. Masyn Winn and Nolan Arenado, two Gold Glove candidates, are on the left side of the infield. Lars Nootbaar and Victor Scott II have done wonderful jobs patrolling left field and center field, respectively. Even Jordan Walker and Willson Contreras have seen positive results on the defensive end.

As a team, the Cardinals are tied for first in baseball according to Outs Above Average, a holistic defensive metric, with the Houston Astros. They've also been tagged for the eighth-fewest errors this year, and 127 assists are good for sixth in baseball. The offense and defense, for all intents and purposes, have been quite solid for the Cardinals in the early going.

The same can't necessarily be said for the pitching. The club has the second-worst team ERA (5.24); this surpasses only the Milwaukee Brewers. They have the fifth-worst K rate (19.6%) as a staff, and their 135 ERA- in the third-worst in the league (a 100 ERA- is league average, and figures lower than 100 indicate an above-average staff or pitcher).

It's been a mixed bag of results for the Cardinals as a team to start the year off, but this doesn't mean that certain players haven't been able to shine through the mire. Thanks to the efforts of several players who either flew under many people's radars or who are outperforming even the most optimistic of projections, the club has been able to stay relatively afloat this year.

There were several question marks surrounding the "youngry" Cardinals heading into 2025. Would the young players be able to step up and lead the team into its next successful window? Would Nolan Arenado be able to find his stroke once more? How would the pitchers be able to find success in 2025?

We have answers to some of those questions in the early going thanks to surprising starts for several players. I would like to include some honorable mentions at this point. The performances of Ivan Herrera, Jordan Walker, and Lars Nootbaar have all been helpful. However, these players didn't surprise me as much as the others on this list.

*All stats are prior to the Cardinals' series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.

These 4 St. Louis Cardinals are off to surprisingly strong starts in 2025.