Can the St. Louis Cardinals still win the National League Central?

Just a week ago, many were writing off the Cardinals' 2023 season. Now, they look like a team who could win their division

It's safe to say that the St. Louis Cardinals are coming off of their best week of baseball all season. The club has won six of their last seven games, and there is a whole new energy surrounding the club.

Many wrote off the Cardinals as recently as May 6th, when the club fell to 10-24 and looked completely lost in all facets of the game. They had just made the crazy move to remove Willson Contreras from being their primary catcher, and it seemed like hope was lost on a turnaround for the club.

All week long though, the Cardinals showed fight and determination. They played much better baseball than they had been all season, especially when it came to producing runs. Any time they fell behind in a game, you had the confidence that they could come back in a hurry and win the game.

If you're thinking to yourself "It was just one week, are we really going to write off the first 34 games of the season?", that is completely fair to say. The club still has major flaws when it comes to pitching, and the whole they dug themselves will not be easy to climb out of.

But for those who are starting to believe they could still win the National League Central, you have good reason to.

Here are three reasons why the Cardinals have a legit shot to win the National League Central after their recent turnaround.

The National League Central is weak

When compared to their fellow division rivals, the Cardinals have the best record in the division over the last 10 games. The Brewers and Reds are both 5-5, the Cubs have stumbled at 4-6, and the Pirates have been an awful 2-8.

While some believed in the hot starts of the Brewers, Cubs, and especially the Pirates, they all seem more like teams that overachieved to begin the year and are falling back down to their initial expectations, while the Cardinals are doing the exact opposite.

This doesn't mean those three teams cannot win the NL Central this year, but I don't think they are going to give the Cardinals as much trouble as they'd find in the National League East or West.

A weak division allows for a team like the Cardinals to climb out of the hole they are in. Crazy enough, they are only 7.5 games back of the division at this point. They could very easily cut into that lead significantly before the end of May, and have all summer and September to cover the rest of their deficit.

Still have room to improve with pitching

The last reason the club still has a strong chnace to win the NL Central has to do with the improvements they still are able to make to their team.

On the surface, saying one of the Cardinals' problems is a reason to believe in them doesn't makes sense. How could terrible pitching needing to be improved play in their favor?

Well, it's obvious that if the Cardinals' can stabilize their rotation, they could be a very scary team down the stretch for a lot of teams. While it feels like teams like the Brewers, Pirates, and Cubs kind of "maxed out" their ceiling already and don't have much further they could go this year, the Cardinals have the opportunity to take even bigger steps forward than they already have when they improve their pitching.

Internally, better performances from all of their rotation would help big time. The club also has options down in Memphis, like Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, and Zack Thompson who could be options soon if the rotation continues to falter.

And, of course, the Cardinals have the ability to go out and make a move for starting pitching once the right move presents itself. There could be some lower-level starters they could acquire in the nearer future if they are desperate enough but closer to the deadline, they could go after that big fish, the front-line starter they badly need.