The Cardinals appear to have changed the narrative on their season

For the longest time, I've been beating the drum for the Cardinals to sell at the trade deadline. I've thought this team was too flawed to invest in and had too many holes to fill.

While there are still obvious holes to fill on the roster, I think it might be time for me to reverse course on my opinion that the Cardinals should sell.

I wasn't convinced earlier in the year, but they are now 21-11 since May 12 and are above the .500 mark. Not only this, but they also find themselves in sole possession of the second Wild Card spot in the National League.

Granted, the National League is as weak as it's been in quite some time, and that's the main reason why the Cardinals have a chance. Still, this team looked like a clear seller about a month ago, and now they find themselves in contention, and they seem committed to being buyers instead.

Have the Cardinals changed their fortunes?

So, this begs the question. Have the Cardinals truly turned their season around?

I'm starting to think maybe they have. Their recent stretch of play is encouraging, and they look like a team that can win. I still don't think this is a World Series contender by any means, but this could at the very least be a playoff-caliber team if they add.

And if they truly have changed their fortunes, then buying should be the route that they go. They could possibly make moves in both directions, similar to the Mariners last year, who traded Paul Sewald but got some solid offensive pieces in return from the Diamondbacks.

But things are really looking up now. They'll start a series against the Marlins tonight and finally have a chance to go back over the .500 mark for the first time since April. The pitching has held up its end of the bargain. Now it's time for the offense to get going. And if the returns of Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman, and Willson Contreras help, then some of their offensive issues could essentially be fixed internally.

If the Cardinals buy, they could still use some upgrades on both sides of the ball. But this team might actually be proving its worth and giving the front office reasons to invest in the roster. We'll have to see how things play out until the deadline, but it does seem like things are actually changing, even with the team still at a mere one game above .500. That's a big step considering they were nine games under in May.