St. Louis Cardinals overall body language lacking urgency

Since Mother's Day, the St. Louis Cardinals have had nothing to hang their heads over. The team rocketed from the depths of last place in the NL Central to second place and contending in the Wild Card standings.

Things were looking up. But now the Cardinals are 4-6 over their last ten games, bringing their overall record to 57-56, tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for second place in the NL Central. They are four games back in the Wild Card and six games back of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Looking at the overall situation, the Cardinals should feel good about their situation. Next up, the team faces the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, and Cincinnati Reds. It's a challenging schedule, but considering the circumstances, the Cardinals should feel good about their situation.

The Cardinals made some good moves at the trade deadline, picking up veteran outfielder Tommy Pham, innings-eating starter Erick Fedde, and reliever Shawn Armstrong. Pham was an instant boost, knocking a pinch-hit grand slam home run in his first at-bat back with the team hit started within the league. Pham is another veteran voice in a dugout filled with veteran voices like Matt Carpenter, Lance Lynn, and Brandon Crawford. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado were each happy to recommend the team seek Pham to help with leadership.

That's great, but it could be more reassuring. With their multi-million dollar contracts, the Cardinals probably expected to get leadership from Goldschmidt, and Arenado.

Goldschmidt is quiet and making strides in improvement. Knocking a walk-off home run helps his cause. It's easy to see why he values the help from other veteran voices. While dealing with injuries, Willson Contreras has been an excellent voice for Pedro Pagés and the pitching staff. He also makes significant contributions to the plate.

Arenado, on the other hand, is frustrating. He makes more than anyone on the team with a five-year deal worth $144 million, which takes him through the 2027 season. Over the last seven games, he's hitting .333/.357/.407 with a walk and four strikeouts. He has nine hits, four runs, and three RBIs.

He should be the loudest voice on the team. But if you have watched him recently, you will see that he does things like making a play at third base or getting a hit, but his body language is terrible. He isn't hustling. He shows no joy. He looks like he's just out there collecting a check. It's so frustrating to see. Two weeks ago, Redbird Rants' colleague Thomas Gauvain wrote about Arenado having two consecutive games of poor performance.

The team has many young players who could benefit from his voice and actions. Nolan Gorman had to change his playing position after the Cardinals traded for Arenado. He could use his guidance to improve at the plate. Masyn Winn plays shortstop and tries to make his way, but Arenado would be an excellent voice for him. Countless others could benefit from his voice. Instead, we see a highly-paid athlete who seems to be coasting by.

The young guys on the team also seem to have lost the excitement they have had during their winning run. Players such as Winn, Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, and Pedro Pages look sluggish. The team needs Arenado to remember who he is precisely. They need the hard-hitting, platinum glove-winning, multi-time All-Star version of Arenado. They need him to light the fire he keeps trying to pass off to other veterans.

The Cardinals need to step it up overall and play Cardinals baseball. They need to hit, get hits that move runners on the base path, score multiple runs per game, and make small plays to prevent the other team from stealing victory. They need to play the way the Cardinals are fully capable of playing. Otherwise, the comeback the team made to get where they are today will be for nothing, and fans will have another season ending in more significant frustration.

The Cardinals can not have another disappointing season. The whole team must step up, remember who they are, and return to their winning ways.