With the season on life support, do the Cardinals have another magical run in them?
Coming off one of the worst starts in franchise history, the St. Louis Cardinals have registered their first winning streak of 2023 and they did it against their biggest rival.
Once favorites to win the National League Central, the Cardinals are sitting at 13-24. Despite this bad start, they only find themselves eight games behind the division-leading Pittsburgh Pirates.
While the start to the season was less than ideal, the rest of the division has also had their fair share of struggles with the Cincinnati Reds being the only team playing .500 or better over the last 10 games.
While they might not need the magical run they did in 2021, the Cardinals will still have an uphill battle to repeat as Central Division champion.
Starting pitching is still a major question mark and it remains to be seen how they will address the position as the season moves on. Ranking in the bottom half of nearly every pitching category, an upgrade is a major need if they want to compete in 2023.
With prospects Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy and Gordon Graceffo all in Triple-A waiting for their chance to make an impact, the Cardinals have plenty of young arms to turn to before they look outside the organization for help.
The offense has sputtered at times, but they have more than enough firepower to turn things around at the major league level, and with top prospect Jordan Walker re-tooling his swing in Triple-A he should be back to help contribute again this season.
While fans have been impatient with the start after hopes of a strong season, they still are filling the stands showing they are not giving up.
Now it's up to the organization to prove that it isn't giving up on the 2023 season either.
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