4 reasons why the St. Louis Cardinals are beginning to heat up

These four factors have contributed to the Cardinals winning ballgames again

Following an eight-game losing streak and looking like a team that may be beyond saving, the St. Louis Cardinals have now won five of their last six games, securing series wins over the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox while going for a sweep in Boston this evening.

While the Cardinals were due to start winning at least some games, the way they have played over their last six games looks like a team that has started to find themselves again. Their strengths are looking like legit strengthens, and when they've been punched in the mouth, they punch back. There is real excitement and optimism in that clubhouse and for good reason.

The rest of the National League Central has been scuffling over the month of May, as the Cardinals now boast the second-best record in the division over the last 10 games. St. Louis sits 7.5 games back of Milwaukee for the division lead, with 122 games remaining in the season.

This team still has some real holes, and those need fixes in order for them to be a true contender later this season. But for now, there are multiple encouraging signs that should lead fans to believe that their recent winning ways are a sign of things to come. The club will have to spend the next few months eating away at the hole they dug themselves, but they now look like a team who could be capable of doing that.

Here are four reasons the Cardinals are beginning to heat up once again.

Nolan Arenado has come out of his slump

The first month of the season was not pretty for Nolan Arenado, as he slashed .239/.281/.319 with 2 HR and 14 RBI in his first 28 games. Arenado, hitting cleanup for the club, was consistently seeing opportunities with runners in scoring position, and just could not come through for his team.

The month of May has been a completely different animal for Arenado. In the 10 games he's played this month, he's slashing .286/.348/.571 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. Arenado looks so much more comfortable at the plate right now, with his breakthrough game being his 4-5 performance on Friday against the Red Sox where he blasted a home run over the Green Monster.

This club needs Arenado if they are going to win games. He's too important of a player for them to be slumping the way he did, especially when he consistently comes up in situations where he could change the outlook of the game with one swing of the bat.

Arenado heating up means the Cardinals now have their two MVP level hitters in the middle of their order once again. The next reason they are heating up though is because they have seemingly added another MVP level hitter to their lineup when they are facing right-handed pitching.

Lars Nootbaar is living up to the offseason hype

After an offseason where Lars Nootbaar began to get a ton of hype from both national and local media, Nootbaar's expectations skyrocketed even further after he became an international superstar while playing for Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic.

It started to feel like the expectations were so high that no matter what Nootbaar did, he was not going to be able to justify them. In reality, he has been everything fans could have hoped for and more.

In 25 games this season, Nootbaar is slashing .302/.444/.442 with 3 HR and 13 RBI, good for a 151 wRC+ on the season. The crazy thing is, if you look at his Baseball Savant page, he's not hitting the ball nearly as hard as he was last year, showing that he could have even more production waiting to be unleashed this season.

Nootbaar is the perfect table setter for a lineup full of powerful hitters. With guys like Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, and Willson Contreras hitting behind him, his on-base skills should turn into runs more often than not. Nootbaar ranks in the 99th percentile in walk percentage and 100th percentile in chase rate, but when the ball is in the zone, he knows how to do damage with it.

The Cardinals have had a lot of frustration with their outfield this year, but Nootbaar has been the clear bright spot and is helping carry the Cardinals to wins now.

Willson Contreras is raking, and returning to his catching duties

Ever since Willson Contreras was unfairly benched by the Cardinals last week, he has handled himself like a true professional and provided immense value as the everyday DH at the plate.

Now Contreras is getting an opportunity to return to catching this coming Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers, giving the Cardinals an opportunity to put their best lineup out there any given night.

On the season, Contreras is batting .265/.344/.412 with 3 HR and 18 RBI. He probably has room to produce even more than he has to this point this season, but what is most encouraging is how he continues to show up in big moments. That kind of production from the catcher position is a huge asset for the club, and also allows them to maximize the DH spot as well.

Sliding Contreras back behind the plate allows the Cardinals to get more at-bats for guys like Juan Yepez, Alec Burleson, and Brendan Donovan who have had to sit more often as of late because of the DH spot being filled by Contreras. This lineup is the club's clear strength, the way they have to win ballgames, so getting their best lineup out there each day is huge.