Three keys fueling Cardinals’ club-record 16-game winning streak

St. Louis manager Mike Shildt had a premonition, a feeling about his 2021 Cardinals.

“I’m tired of saying this because I sound like a broken record,” he told reporters on a postgame Zoom session. “We’re about to break it, because we’re about to get hot. We just haven’t been able to play with a lead. … We need to get out in front, keep playing clean defense and string together more consistent at-bats. Like I said, we’re about to get hot.”

The Cardinals are red hot at the moment, winners of 16 consecutive games. The manager knew his team was capable of greatness, though even he might not have seen his club rattling off a franchise-best win streak, topping the mark set by the Gashouse Gang Cardinals in 1935. 

And he probably didn’t expect it to take so long for his club to find its stride. See, that quote was indeed from a postgame news conference, but not one in September. Or August. Or even July. Shildt said those words after a 10-1 loss to Cleveland on June 8. 

His Cardinals did not, in fact, “get hot” in June. In fact, they lost 11 of their next 17 games. The Cardinals were two games over .500 when Shildt made his prediction and they spent most of the next three months bouncing around the .500 mark. When they started this current 16-game winning streak, they were — you guessed it — exactly two games over .500, at 71-69. 

And now, they can’t seem to lose. So what’s happened? Let’s take a look at what’s been different lately.

BroNeill and Bader

Lineup stalwarts Paul Goldschmidt (31 homers, 98 RBI, 144 OPS+, 6.1 bWAR) and Nolan Arenado (33 homers, 103 RBI, 122 OPS+, 4.3 bWAR) have been outstanding in September, but that’s what the Cardinals expect from those two All-Stars. 

What’s taken the lineup from mediocre to excellent? Harrison Bader is an elite defensive center fielder, which has been the reason he’s stayed in the Cardinals’ starting lineup for most of the past four years, even during long stretches when he looks lost in a land of tempting but wayward sliders. There have been flashes at the plate, though, when his combo of power and speed make him look like an All-Star. After batting .152 with a .421 OPS, Bader is having one of the very best months of his career in September. 

During this 16-game hitting streak, Bader’s batting .400 with a 1.179 OPS, four homers, nine doubles, 12 RBI and a pair of stolen bases. And he’s done this from primarily the No. 7/8 spots in the Cardinals lineup. That’s a nice boost at the back end, eh? 

And then there’s Tyler O’Neill. Speaking of looking lost at the plate, O’Neill posted a 70 OPS+ during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He’s been much more consistent through the 2021 season, and O’Neill is having the best month of his career in September. In 26 games, he has 11 homers, 27 RBIs, 26 runs scored, a 1.054 OPS and even four stolen bases. 

It’s not a coincidence that surge coincided with Shildt’s decision in late August to move O’Neill up to the No. 3 spot in the Cardinals order, which puts him directly behind Goldschmidt and directly in front of Arenado. Batting between those two, he’s seeing better pitches to hit and he’s mashing them regularly. 

Let the defense work/throw strikes

The Cardinals have an excellent all-around defense, with Gold Glove winners at third base (Arenado), first base (Goldschmidt), catcher (Yadier Molina) and left field (O’Neill). Bader’s outstanding in center field, and Dylan Carlson (right field), Tommy Edman (second base) and Edmundo Sosa (shortstop) are all plus with the glove. 

In fact, the Cardinals lead baseball in Defensive Runs Saved this year with 79, five ahead of the Rangers and Rockies. But for the first couple of months of the season, most every pitcher not named Adam Wainwright just refused to throw strikes. In May, the Cardinals were last in baseball with an average of 5.02 walks per nine innings. That is, by far, the worst single month BB/9 ratio for any team in any month this season. 

It would be one thing if the defense was bad and that’s why the pitchers tried to get outs out of the strike zone. But the defense is excellent, so the lack of control was especially frustrating. And it’s not surprising that some of the worst walk offenders — John Gant checked in at 6.6 BB/9 in 76 1/3 innings and Johan Oviedo was at 5.3 in 62 1/3 innings — have been replaced in both the rotation and the bullpen. 

The Cardinals’ team walk rate in September? It’s 3.04, almost two walks better than it was a few short/long months ago. That’s far from the best in baseball — that number ranks 10th in the bigs — but it’s an example of the improvement made, helped by the additions of veteran starters Wade LeBlanc, J.A. Happ and Jon Lester. Throw strikes, let the defense work. It’s a simple, successful formula. 

Bullpen brilliance

Genesis Cabrera and Kodi Whitley have combined to throw 23 2/3 scoreless innings this month. Luis Garcia had a 25 1/3 inning scoreless streak that was finally snapped on Sept. 19.

But the biggest piece of the September bullpen has been Giovanny Gallegos. He’s the primary piece that came from New York in the deal that sent Luke Voit to the Yankees. Gallegos took over the closer role from Alex Reyes, when the All-Star hit a rough patch in August. Gallegos has made 13 appearances in September and only allowed hits in four of those games. 

He had a hiccup outing against Milwaukee early in the month, but since then he has an 0.84 ERA with 10 saves in 11 appearances, with 18 strikeouts and only four walks. 

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