Cardinals stay hot after receiving a fantastic grade for the opening month

The St. Louis Cardinals have shocked the world so far this season, after many thought of them as a bottom-barrel team in the National League Central. In what is the most heated division in baseball, this team is currently sitting in the second-spot, with a record of 21-14 and 2.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs. 

David Schoenfield of ESPN graded the Cards with an "A-" for their opening month, and since the calendar switched over, they have not let up. Large in part to the emergence of right-fielder Jordan Walker and second baseman JJ Weatherholt, this team is going to be a serious contender if they can make it to the postseason. 

So far, so good. 

The only real area of concern for the Cardinals, beside their stacked division of teams that are all very close to being playoff teams themselves, is the pitching. According to Baseball Savant, this pitching staff as a whole is allowing a hard-hit% of 43.8, which is in the bottom 3% of Major League Baseball. 

Furthermore, ace pitcher Michael McGreevy has not gotten much support from the other starters in the rotation. Dustin May is sporting  a 5.15 ERA, and the trio of Matthew Liberatore, Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante do not represent a positive WAR, combined. 

Look for the Cardinals to try and bolster their pitching if things heat up this summer, and this successful pace continues. If the New York Mets are looking to sell on Freddy Peralta, St. Louis could be a perfect landing spot for him. 

The Cardinals are already having a successful May, having won three out of their last four games. Two of those wins came against the back-to-back World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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