Rival NL Manager Shares Praise, Respect For Surging Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten off to a much better start this season than anybody could have imagined. Rather than looking like they're in the midst of a major rebuild, they look like borderline contenders.

St. Louis has won four consecutive series' heading into a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals this weekend.

Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson recently shared some serious praise of the Cardinals to The Athletic's Katie Woo following Philadelphia's series loss to St. Louis.

“They can beat you in a lot of different ways,” Thomson said after the series. “They can run, they can steal bases, they can play some small ball when they need to. They’re a great ball club.”

The Phillies ended the Cardinals' nine game win streak by defeating them on Wednesday. The Cardinals responded by winning the series when they dominated the second game of the split doubleheader.

As Thomson states, the Cardinals can beat you in a lot of ways. They have sluggers like Nolan Arenado and Iván Herrera who can change the game with one swing of the bat. Their starting pitching, led by Sonny Gray and Matthew Liberatore, has been excellent this season, too. The bullpen has seen excellent performances across the board as well.

But the defense, led by stars like Masyn Winn, Victor Scott II, Willson Contreras, and Arenado has led the way. Across the board, this defense has saved runs and won games for the team.

The Cardinals are a much better ball club than anybody wanted to give them credit for before the season. Now, the media is taking notice, just the same as Thomson did.