Less than three weeks ago, the Cardinals were buried in last place after 34 games and inelegantly scapegoating their catcher. Now, they look like the best team in the NL Central, a reasonable facsimile of the 2005 Astros and ’19 Nationals, teams that seemed hopelessly under .500 almost two months into a season who then rallied to win a pennant.
What happened? Simply, St. Louis slugged its way out of the mess. Reinstalling Willson Contreras behind the plate helped, too, if only because it forced Cardinals pitchers to look in the mirror for their own culpability in a post–Yadi Molina world with a pitch clock. The Cardinals are 6–0 with Contreras behind the plate since they returned him from his awkward trip to baseball Elba.
The real key: They have outscored teams 61–24 in those six starts. Nolan Arenado is hitting, Nolan Gorman is becoming a star and Paul DeJong—after a winter of remaking his swing—is back from minor league hell. The Cardinals are mashing enough to cover their warts, real or perceived.
