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Are the 2023 St. Louis Cardinals the next "team of destiny"?
The Cardinals are red-hot right now, and the month of May is showing that this team can do something special
For a moment, I caved in. I allowed the general perception about the St. Louis Cardinals, and frankly, their awful play on the field for so long create a level of doubt in my head about what this team could do.
Now, my optimism is restored, and there is reason for us all to believe this team could do something special this year.
Yes, I know the glaring weaknesses, and I'll get into how those must be addressed if this is to be true, but before the front office could go out and fix this pitching staff, this team needed to show it had enough life in it to be aggressive at the deadline. Yes, the front office has failed over the years when it comes to building a quality rotation, but even still, the Cardinals should not have started out as poorly as they did.
The month of May has been a totally different story for the Cardinals. Over their last 13 games, they are tied with the Yankees for the best record in baseball at 10-3. They lead all of baseball during that stretch with a .854 OPS. But what may shock you the most is that they have a 3.26 ERA as a team during that stretch, which ranks fourth in the game.
The Cardinals are firing on all cylinders right now, and have so many reasons to give this fanbase hope for an epic season. Let's look at why I think this team could be the next "team of destiny".
The offense is the best in baseball
Going into the season, I thought this Cardinals' offense would be the best in all of baseball. Their mix of two MVP candidates in Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, replacing their bottom-three production from the catcher position with an elite bat, and so many young players with the ability to breakout mean this club was going to be mashing all year long.
While they started out a bit slow this season, the offense is finally coming alive, and shouldn't slow down any time soon. Goldschmidt hasn't missed a beat from his 2022 NL MVP campaign, Arenado is finally hitting the baseball like we knew he would, and some young players are finally emerging to join the ranks, specifically Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar.
Gorman's play this season is no longer just a hot start, it's the budding of a superstar at the plate. Gorman is slashing .302/.391/.640 with 13 HR and 39 RBI already this season. He's demolishing everything he sees and is now even raking against left-handed pitching as well. Gorman has come through is huge spots late in games on multiple occasions this year, and gives the Cardinals a legit MVP-caliber trio in the middle of their order.
Nootbaar has slowed down a little bit over the the last week, but is still slashing .267/.390/.383 with 3 HR and 15 RBI while giving the Cardinals a great everyday lead off hitter. Nootbaar has been hitting the ball hard still (ranking amove the top half of the league in max exit velocity, hardhit%, and xSLG), so the extra base hits and power will come soon for him.
Willson Contreras rounds out the top five in the Cardinals' order with an All-Star level bat at catcher and the fire this team desperately needed. With a supporting cast that includes the likes of Tommy Edman, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, Paul DeJong, Tyler O'Neill, Dylan Carlson, Juan Yepez, and soon enough Jordan Walker, this team can score runs on you in a hurry.
The pitching is finally stabilizing
No, this rotation isn't ready for October, but it does appear ready to help this club win a lot of games the rest of the regular season, and provide enough arms to allow the Cardinals to acquire the ace they need to fill out this rotation in July.
Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, and Adam Wainwright have looked better in their last few starts, giving the Cardinals chances to win their games each time out. Jordan Montgomery has been struggling as of late, but I'm pretty confident he can bounce back soon. In his first start of 2023 at the big league level, Matthew Liberatore looked like he belonged and was ready to compete at a high level for St. Louis.
But the X-factor here remains Jack Flaherty, and his most recent start against the Brewers really opened some eyes about what he can be this year.
Flaherty spun seven shutout innings, only allowing three hits and two walks while striking out ten batters. The Cardinals need Flaherty to step up and pitch like a high-end number-two starter for them this season so that if they do add an ace, they have a strong rotation to pair with their incredible lineup come October.
Between now and late July, the Cardinals' offense just needs their lineup to be "good enough". Once the deadline comes, it'll be the front office's job to make it playoff ready, and when it does, this club will take off.
The early adversity is bringing out the best in this team
This was supposed to be a realtivity easy regular season for the Cardinals. They were supposed to basically walk right to claming another division crown, and use the season to prepare themselves for a postseason matchup. Instead, they are fighting tooth and nail to get back into the playoff race.
Their performance on the field, handling of Willson Contreras, the Tyler O'Neill situation, and other things have added up over the course of the season. And yet, in spite of all of that, the Cardinals have gotten back up and I swinging back harder,
Yes, this club will have some rough patches throughout the season, especially between now and when they decide to upgrade the staff. But it's clear this club has a lot going for it now, and its poor start to the season should not only be in the rearview mirror but you should begin to see this team as a group of guys ready to shock the baseball world.
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There is enough talent in that clubhouse to do so, and where they are lacking, they have the resources to upgrade. If this trajectory remains for the next few months, they'll have no choice but to aggressively buy and allow this team to spread it's wings and soar.
Next. 10 worst moves by Mozeliak since 2015. dark