Cardinals Fan-Favorite Emerging As Early St. Louis MVP

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten great performances out of a wide range of guys this season.

The Cardinals have performed above expectations so far this season and are in second place in the National League Central with a 32-24 record. St. Louis had some pretty low expectations heading into the campaign but has already surpassed them. It takes a complete effort to do that. It doesn't take just one or two guys to perform at the level they have, but it doesn't hurt to have a potential MVP candidate on their hands.

For St. Louis, that is utility man Brendan Donovan. He has appeared in 53 games so far this season with St. Louis and is slashing .335/.395/.481 with four home runs, 24 RBIs, three stolen bases, 18 doubles, and 31 runs scored. He's leading the league in base hits at 69 and doubles with 18. On top of this impressive offensive output, he has provided Gold Glove-level defense.

He's shined and unsurprisingly Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller called him the Cardinals' MVP of the season so far.

"Starting Nine: On pace for 96 more runs than last season," Miller said. "MVP: Brendan Donovan. Donovan hasn't homered since April 18, but the National League leader in both hits and doubles has remained a productive staple in the heart of the Cardinals' order. He has had five games with at least three hits just in the past two weeks, bringing what was already a .304 batting average up to .328."