Cardinals' early signs of life have them as a postseason contender originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After trading away four players on their major league roster in the offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals have deferred a rebuilding season for a season to compete in the National League Central. At 22-15, the Cardinals are three and a half games behind the Chicago Cubs for the lead in the Central.
The Cardinals have received outstanding seasons from outfielder Jordan Walker (.309 batting average and a .971 OPS) and infielder JJ Wetherholt (.236/.776 OPS), while right-hander Michael McGreevy (2.52 ERA) has been solid in the starting rotation. These early signs of success for the Cardinals are putting them in line to be an early favorite to make the postseason.
The St. Louis Cardinals are an early favorite to make the playoffs, given their early success
According to MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan, the Cardinals rounded out the list of six teams whose early success is putting them in line to make the postseason. The Cardinals have not made the playoffs since losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Wild Card round (2-0).
"This year was supposed to be the start of a rebuild in St. Louis after the Cardinals traded veterans Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado in the offseason," wrote Harrigan. "Instead, the Cards have started out 21-15, thanks in large part to the belated emergence of former top prospect Jordan Walker and the early success of rookie JJ Wetherholt. What hasn’t changed, though, is the lack of swing-and-miss stuff on the Cardinals’ pitching staff. St. Louis has an MLB-worst 17.6% strikeout rate this season. No team has made the playoffs after posting a strikeout rate that low through 36 team games since the 2017 Twins. The last time a team made the playoffs with MLB’s lowest strikeout-generating pitching staff? No AL or NL club has ever done that, going back to the first World Series in 1903."
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The Cardinals have a chance to compete for a playoff spot in both the Central and as a wild card team. Nearly a quarter of the way through the season, the Cardinals will need to play their cards right at the trade deadline if they're to compete in the National League.
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