Soaring St. Louis Cardinals fly up national power rankings

Very few people expected the St. Louis Cardinals to be a top-10 team in baseball this year. They were entering a stated retooling period, and while competitiveness wasn't being tossed to the side, it was certainly secondary to player development and organizational growth.

So when the Cardinals entered the month of May with a 14-17 record, it was disappointing, but it wasn't surprising. At the time, several outlets ranked the Cardinals as a bottom-third team in baseball. They were being mentioned with teams like the Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, and even Los Angeles Angels as bottom dwellers in the league.

Things have changed dramatically over the last two weeks for the Cardinals. They now sit just one game behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.

The St. Louis Cardinals recent nine-game winning streak has brought them way up in national power rankings.

Major sports outlets have boosted the Cardinals way up in their weekly power rankings since the winning streak started.

Last week, the Cardinals were ranked as the 23rd-best team in baseball according to The Athletic. This outlet now places the Cardinals 17th overall, one of the biggest jumps in the league. Now, the Cardinals are comfortably being mentioned with contenders like the Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, and the equally hot Minnesota Twins.

Johnny Flores Jr. of The Athletic focused on a player the Cardinals are missing this year rather than celebrating the team's win streak.

The Cardinals also jumped up in MLB.com's power rankings. Will Leitch ranked them 17th as well, a six-spot jump from last week. Leitch focused on the massive growth that center fielder Victor Scott II has seen since last year. "The Cardinals everyday center fielder, who stole 94 bases in the Minors two years ago, is getting on base at a .357 clip, has 11 stolen bases and currently has an 11-game hitting streak. And he’s playing a brilliant center field," writes Leitch. "He’s a primary reason the Cardinals have won eight in a row."

Leitch mentioned Scott's defense, but he isn't the only one playing well defensively for the Cardinals. The club checks in as one of the best defensive teams in baseball this year, just 25% of the way through.

Bleacher Report is also taking note of the club's strong play of late. Joel Reuter gave the Cardinals a seven-spot increase from the 20th-best team to the 13th-best team. This is the only major outlet to consider the Cardinals a top-15 team in baseball.

Reuter focuses on the stellar starting pitching as of late from starters Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Matthew Liberatore, and Andre Pallante. During their nine-game winning streak, Cardinal starters rank fourth in ERA (2.65), their relievers rank first (0.68), and their pitchers as a whole rank first in all of baseball according to ERA (2.00).

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of baseball's hottest teams right now. Their stellar play across the board lately has pushed them dramatically up power rankings. If they continue this scorching play, the club could themselves not only as a top-10 team in baseball, but also in first place in the NL Central.