Cardinals Jump in Latest ESPN MLB Power Rankings

The St. Louis Cardinals have had their ups and downs in the 2022 MLB season, sitting 3.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central lead with a 20-17 record. Although they've struggled with consistency, ESPN has clearly taken notice of the Cardinals' potential.

The Cardinals have jumped up to the No. 10 spot in ESPN's latest MLB power rankings. They were listed at No. 12 last week, which further adds to the much-deserved respect they're receiving.

St. Louis Cardinals Power Ranking

The Cardinals are also ranked as the fifth-highest National League team and are only a handful of spots behind the Brewers, who sit at No. 5.

ESPN lists first baseman Paul Goldschmidt as one of the reasons for the Cardinals' jump after going 12-of-30 (.400) in his last seven games for three home runs and nine RBIs. He now has five HRs and 23 RBIs on the year, ranking only behind Nolan Arenado (nine HRs, 31 RBIs) on the Cardinals.

The Cardinals, in general, have batted well as a team over the last week. Their .278 batting average over that stretch is second-best in the Majors and they also rank impressively when it comes to hits 59, T-No. 4) and runs (30, T-No. 11) while recording the third-fewest strikeouts (38).

St. Louis' pitching has been hit-or-miss over the last seven games as well. Although the Cardinals' pitchers have held the opposition to three or fewer runs four times during that span, they allowed six-plus runs on the other three occasions.

If the Cardinals' pitchers can be more consistent as the bats continue to produce, a World Series run isn't out of the question. FanDuel Sportsbook is currently giving them +3000 odds (No. 14) to go on a championship run this fall.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. 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.