The St. Louis Cardinals invested a lot in their starting rotation, given their issues in that area last year.
They brought in ace Sonny Gray, plus veterans Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.
Still, many analysts predicted a rough season ahead for them given the elevated average age on the roster.
There are many veterans on the Cards: Lynn, Gibson, Gray, Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter, Nolan Arenado, Giovanny Gallegos, Andrew Kittredge, Miles Mikolas, Willson Contreras and Brandon Crawford, among others, are all over 30.
In any case, the Cards have been more competitive than some folks anticipated, and are within striking distance in the NL Central with a 40-37 record.
They are now second in the division, just 5.5 games out of first place as of Wednesday afternoon.
The situation wasn’t always this promising, though.
On May 11, they were 15-24 and everybody was already leaving them for dead, putting together scenarios in which they sold at the trade deadline with months in advance.
They have turned around their season since that date, though.
After that point, St. Louis owns one of the best records in the National League at 25-13.
Having Gray healthy and in a groove has helped, sure, but the development of young, promising prospects to complement the veterans is perhaps the biggest reason behind the surge.
Shortstop Masyn Winn, for example, has blossomed into a reliable starter with a .773 OPS, and Brendan Donovan also got hot and is up to a .754 OPS.
Closer Ryan Helsley and JoJo Romero have been fantastic in the bullpen, and all three veteran starting pitching acquisitions have an ERA under 4.00.
Maybe if they make the right acquisitions, the Cards can compete with the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central title.
At the very least, they should fight for a spot among the Wild Card teams in the National League.
