Cardinals Overlooked Offseason Move Paying 'Massive Dividends' So Far In 2025

The St. Louis Cardinals are 9-9 and 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central, largely due to an underrated offseason hiring.

Shockingly, the Cardinals have one of the hottest offenses in baseball -- ranking fifth in runs scored (94), second in hits (180), first in batting average (.280) and third in OPS (.783).

St. Louis' lackluster lineup was the team's Achilles' Heel last season but now the Cardinals have one of the most productive offenses. An unsung hero hired by the club's front office over the winter deserves recognition for the 11-time World Series champions' recent success at the plate.

"A Cardinals offense that lagged badly last season looks almost like an entirely different unit in 2025 despite much of the same personnel in place," MLB.com's John Denton wrote Wednesday. "The biggest change, per several players, is the switch to new hitting coach (Brant) Brown, who develops individualized plans of attack for hitters on a daily basis. It might seem elementary, but Brown has been the biggest proponent in Cardinals’ hitters knowing which counts they should be looking to slug and which ones they should be protecting the plate. So far, it’s paid massive dividends."

Shortly after former Cardinals hitting coach Turner Ward was fired last fall, Brown was hired to breathe fresh air into the youth-laden St. Louis lineup. Under his guidance, youngsters Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Iván Herrera, Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II have performed exceptionally well offensively this season.

"'A lot of guys underperformed last year, including myself,' said Nootbaar, who leads the team in walks (15) and runs (12), tied for second in hits (19), second in home runs (three) and RBIs (10)," as transcribed by Denton. "Donovan extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games with a single in the game-turning fifth. MLB’s leader in hits (27) and the National League’s leader in batting average (.380), Donovan is on a .478 (22-for-46) spree during MLB’s longest active hitting streak."

The Cardinals have plenty of baseball left to play before the playoffs begin this Oct. but under Brown's leadership, their offense looks poised to reunite St. Louis with the postseason for the first time since 2022.

The NL Central is hypercompetitive this season, with the Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds poised to make a legitimate run for the division title. Fortunately, the Cardinals' red-hot lineup is showing no signs of slowing down and is determined to silence the naysayers.

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