Cardinals Power From Lineup A Trend To Watch In June, Per Insider

The St. Louis Cardinals were red-hot in the month of May, climbing back into the postseason race after falling to 14-19 on May 2.

However, they have seemingly cooled off a little bit in the month of June. They have opened the month with a 1-4 record and have lost their last two series.

How they play in June will help dictate which path they decide to take this year at the trade deadline. What they'll do is currently uncertain.

Katie Woo of The Athletic listed three trends to watch for the Cardinals this month, one of which was a question of whether the middle of the lineup can continue to produce.

"The middle of the lineup for the Cardinals looks considerably different than how the team initially planned at the start of the season. After Nolan Arenado was dropped to the six-hole in mid-May, Willson Contreras took over as the team’s everyday clean-up hitter, with Iván Herrera firmly behind him in the No. 5 spot," Woo wrote on Friday.

Since the lineup change, the offense has been clicking on all cylinders, and even with the pitching struggling a little bit, the offense is keeping them in games.

Despite a 7-5 loss on Thursday night against the Kansas City Royals, they came back to tie the game after falling behind 5-1.

So, at the very least, their offense can help them stay afloat, but it will still be important to see how they end up playing this month as far as determining their deadline strategy goes.