Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Clubhouse 'A Little Mad' With Negative Media; Determined To Defy Naysayers

St. Louis isn't going down without a fight in 2025
Nate Hagerty|
Aug 22, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras (40) reacts after drawing a walk with the bases loaded against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Aug 22, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras (40) reacts after drawing a walk with the bases loaded against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have a 4-5 record and sit 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the hypercompetitive National League Central.

After Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak failed to do much of anything during his final offseason as head honcho, many expect St. Louis to endure another disappointing campaign after missing the playoffs by a long shot two years in a row.

Despite what naysayers are claiming, a Cardinals fan favorite recently shared that the clubhouse isn't backing down and hopes to prove the haters wrong by making 2025 a highly productive season.

"'They talk about a reset, but the energy in the clubhouse is even way better this year because we see a lot of comments around us that make us a little mad -- in a good way,' Contreras said," as transcribed by ESPN's Jesse Rogers on Sunday. "'We're here to prove what we can do.'"

Unfortunately, Contreras is off to the worst start of his career -- batting .114 with four hits including zero home runs, three RBIs and a .355 OPS in 35 at-bats across nine games played for the Cardinals this season.

After moving over to first base to allow youngsters Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés to battle it out for who'll be the Cardinals' future franchise catcher, Contreras has looked like a shell of his former self at the plate.

Fortunately, the majority of St. Louis' offense is clicking -- ranking third overall in hits (100), fourth in runs scored (62), first in batting average (.301) and second in OPS (.862).

Considering that the Cardinals' lackluster offense was the team's Achilles' Heel in 2024, it's encouraging to see this year's lineup coming out of the gate hot.

There's still plenty of baseball left to play this season but so far, St. Louis' offense is getting the job done. If the Cardinals' mediocre pitching staff begins to click, the 11-time World Series champions could make a legitimate run at winning the 2025 National League Central title.

More MLB: Cardinals $260 Million Star Listed Among 'Best MLB Trade Chips' For 2025 Season

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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