St. Louis Cardinals: 2022 NL Central Champions!
The St. Louis Cardinals have clinched the National League Central by defeating the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday night by the score of 6-2. This is the Cardinals’ 11th division title since 2000, and first since 2019.
Heading into tonight’s contest the Cardinals held a 6 1/2 game lead on the Brew Crew (which has been the closest Milwaukee has been to St. Louis the entire month of September.)
With so many highlights as of late, of Albert Pujols hitting career HR #700, and Adam Wainwright & Yadier Molina setting the all-time battery record, the mainstream attention has had many eyes on the Cardinals, but tonight’s win should garner the attention on this team as a whole.
Not only has Nolan Arenado & Paul Goldschmidt both been in the MVP running all season, but the Cardinals have had contributions from just about every member of this current roster.
Miles Mikolas has pitched well this season, trade deadline acquisitions Jordan Montgomery & Jose Quintana have both been huge pluses for this rotation, and then there’s Jack Flaherty & Steven Matz who are back in the mix of things. This arsenal of arms to go along with Adam Wainwright, has strengthened the pitching staff.
The bullpen has been pretty solid too, with Ryan Helsley & his new “Hels Bells” entrance locking down games with several other Cardinal arms getting the job done as well.
While Nolan Gorman recently got sent back to Memphis, his contributions haven’t gone unnoticed this season either. Then there’s young guys like Lars Nootbaar & Brendan Donovan who St. Louis has relied heavily on all season coming through.
Obviously the Cardinals have had Arenado & Goldy on the corners being two of the more constant presences this season, and the legendary trifecta of Pujols, Waino & Molina getting a lot of well-deserves fan fare, but everyone from Tommy Edman, to Dylan Carlson, from Andrew Knizner to Corey Dickerson, from Andre Pallante to Dakota Hudson have all chipped in this season and played vital roles for this ball club.
And what can we say about 1st year manager Oli Marmol? Managing this team to a division title in year one while witnessing historic events, utilizing key pieces and getting the most out of many of the young guys, this season has been quite the success for him as well.
But the goal at the beginning of this season was never “just” to win the division. The Cardinals want a World Series Championship and have had that mindset first and foremost over any individual/team accolades leading up to it.
It remains to be seen how the rest of the playoff picture will look, but for St. Louis & Cardinals Nation, it’s going to be yet another “Red October”. And hopefully a run in the playoffs that ends in a twelfth WS championship to cap what has already been a season for the ages!
Go Cards! #12in22