The A-Team: How did the potential 2024 Cardinals lineup perform in 2023?

September

The final month of the season had the most consistency. Of the ten games where at least seven of next year's starting lineup played together, six of them included eight of next year's starting nine players; Brendan Donovan was on the Injured List for the remainder of the season, so he was not on the roster during September.

The offense caught fire in September, and the team's best players averaged 5.7 runs per game, a glimpse of the offensive potential of this roster. They hit .253 as a group, and the A-team closed out the month with a 6-4 record, the best record in any month of this exercise.

Willson Contreras was practically unstoppable up until his injury late in September, and he led the offense this month. He hit .366, and when he played with other 2024 starters, Contreras was able to have five multi-hit games. He, paired with Adam Wainwright's masterful performance and the bullpen's stout showing, got Waino his 200th career win on September 18th against the Brewers.

Jordan Walker began showing his offensive potential, and Nolan Arenado returned to hitting like the Nolan Arenado of old. For as disappointing of a season 2023 was the team's 2024 starters sure showed up strong in September of 2023. Should this offense produce next year the way it did in the last month of the 2023 season, the Cardinals will be tough to beat in 2024, especially with a new crop of starting pitchers.