The Cardinals were supposed to have another losing year.In the offseason, they traded away their best pitcher, Sonny Gray.
They sent away their two best veteran hitters in Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.Was it addition by subtraction? I doubt it.
I think it is that the youth on the team is finally adapting and hitting the ball well.As a team, they are hitting .247 and have scored 4.5 runs per game.
They have lost their past three games, and haven't been amazing on the road this season.Still, there are a lot of reasons for optimism with the Cardinals.St.
Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Dustin May reacts after throwing a complete game one-hitter against the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium in St.Louis, Mo., on June 15, 2026.
(Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)Sunday, they send out Dustin May, who has been a pleasant surprise for St.Louis.
May is 5-6 for the season with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.His road and home splits are fairly even, but he does have a 5.73 ERA in day starts, which is a concern here.Part of that can be that he doesn't have enough time to do his normal routine.
He was phenomenal in the last game.It was arguably the best start of his career - he allowed just one hit and one walk in a complete-game shutout against the San Diego Padres.
He did face the Royals earlier this year and allowed four hits, three earned runs and four walks in six innings.The Royals are going to be hitting their heads against the wall if they can't turn things around this season.They were expected to be one of the best teams in the division, and lucky for them, there aren't many truly good teams in the division.
The bad news is they are 13 games below .500 and will need to get really hot if they want to make a push this season.I like the Royals roster, but they are underperforming.
There really isn't any other way to say it.SHIRTLESS CARDINALS FANS TAKE OVER EMPTY SECTION IN ELECTRIC SCENE DURING WALK-OFF WIN OVER THE ROYALSKansas City Royals pitcher Stephen Kolek pitche...