Cardinals Surge Up Standings Behind Stellar Pitching Performances

The St. Louis Cardinals have been the hottest team in the league for the last two weeks. They currently ride an eight-game winning streak that's seen spectacular performances from Erick Fedde, Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and many more.

St. Louis has opened a lot of people's eyes over the course of the last two weeks as they've turned themselves from one of the more forgotten teams in baseball to one of the more talked about teams.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently tabbed the surging Cardinals as the 13th-best team in baseball in his latest power rankings.

"The Cardinals are 12-4 over their last 16 games and enter play on Monday riding an eight-game winning streak as they have gone from likely seller to potential contender in just a few short weeks," Reuter wrote. "Erick Fedde (1 GS, 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER), Sonny Gray (1 GS, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER), Matthew Liberatore (1 GS, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) and Andre Pallante (1 GS, 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER) all tossed gems on the mound."

Pitching has been key to the Cardinals' success this season and it's going to be key if they want to contend this season.

Many expected St. Louis to trade players like Fedde, Gray, Arenado, and Ryan Helsley, but if it's playing like this, there's no way they can enter sell-mode.

In fact, there's a chance the Cardinals buy again at this trade deadline, albeit they would need to target controllable players instead of rentals. But there's a real chance the Cardinals' excellent play on the field has changed the way the front office is going to attack the season.