Cardinals Jump Division Rival in ESPN's MLB Power Rankings

Don't look now, but the St. Louis Cardinals are right on the Milwaukee Brewers' heels in the National League Central. They sit just 0.5 games back after winning six of their last 10 games and are starting to be taken seriously as a contender. That's become clear in ESPN's latest MLB power rankings.

St. Louis Cardinals Power Rankings

The Cardinals check in at No. 7 overall, which is one spot higher than their ranking last week (8). What's more important is that they jumped right over a divisional rival, though. The Brewers come in at No. 8 after losing seven of their last 10 games and struggling to get anything going at the plate.

These two teams have met eight times this season and split the games right down the middle. Keep in mind they are completely different squads. Milwaukee finds success leaning on its dominant pitching staff, while St. Louis gets the job done by consistently hitting the cover off the baseball.

The Cardinals are led by the MLB Player of the Month in May, Paul Goldschmidt. The veteran slugger owns the third-highest on-base percentage in the league (.421) and has racked up 47 RBI (No. 3 in MLB). His efforts have gone a long way in helping St. Louis average 4.81 runs per game (No. 4 in MLB).

There's no denying that the Cardinals need to improve on the mound if they want any shot of winning the World Series. For now, St. Louis has odds set at +175 to earn the NL Central title, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.