The Cardinals are off to their best start in 17 years

This piece was written prior to the beginning of the Pirates series, so data points are revelant to the Cardinals' standing at the 85 game mark.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been on another hot streak as they closed out the month of June squarely in the playoff race.

This recent stretch has pushed the Cardinals to sole possession of the third Wild Card spot, and they currently sit just four games behind the Cubs. Prior to the Pirates series, through 85 games, their record sat at 47-38, which was their best record since 2008.

The Cardinals' record is their fifth-best record through 85 games in the past 20 years

Brandon Kiley of 101 ESPN dug through Cardinals seasons since 2005 and found that the team's winning percentage in the first 85 games of the season ranks among their best. The club's .553 winning percentage slots them in at the number five spot, just one win behind the 2008 club.

The number one spot belongs to the powerhouse 2015 and 2005 Cardinal teams, who each won 100 games and won the division. A major difference between those teams and the 2025 squad is that each of those teams was expected to be a World Series contender after making it to the NLCS in 2014 and falling in the World Series in the 2004 season. Coming into this year, the current makeup of the Redbirds' roster looked like it would be another mediocre year, with a ceiling of a .500 team and a floor of being one of the worst teams in baseball if they made all the expected moves ownership discussed in the offseason.

Lucky for the fans, manager Oli Marmol has been able to lead his mixed group of veterans and youngsters to an exciting season in St. Louis. The club's performance thus far has put Marmol as a solid contender for Manager of the Year, and if the season ended today, experts would be hard-pressed to find another manager having as good of a season after coming in with low expectations. The 2015 team had Matt Carpenter, Jason Heyward, and Randal Grichuk backing up a solid rotation, while the 2005 team ran out a lineup with Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina while Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder shouldered the pitching load.

Having a great record through 85 games obviously does not guarantee continued success for the rest of the season, as evidenced by the fact that none of the teams on the list took home a World Series title, with the 2013 team being the only one to make it to the Fall Classic, and that squad lost the series in six games to the Boston Red Sox.

The 2008 team is probably the most comparable of the bunch. In 2007, the Cardinals finished with 78 wins before getting off to their hot start and finished with an 86-76 record. Despite finishing 10 games over .500, the Cardinals finished fourth in the division that season and missed the playoffs. Looking at the roster, that team had a solid offense but a very mediocre, pitch-to-contact rotation built around Kyle Lohse, Braden Looper, Todd Wellemeyer, Joel Pineiro, and Adam Wainwright. Wellemeyer led that team in strikeouts with a whopping 134 punchouts in 191.2 innings. In 2025, Erick Fedde has the lowest K/9 rate (5.5) in the current rotation, and that would actually be near the top for the 2008 rotation, with that year's leader sitting at 6.3 K/9.

This season, the NL Central looks reminiscent of the 2008 season, with four teams currently sitting above .500 on the year. Of course, the Houston Astros were still part of the NL Central that season, but the Cubs won the division with 97 wins, and the Brewers were behind them with 90 wins. The 2025 Cardinals are currently on pace for a 90-72 record and are holding the third and final Wild Card spot.