The St. Louis Cardinals are officially the hottest team in the National League and their eight-game winning streak is tied for the longest current streak in the majors. Their 8-2 run is by far the best in the NL Central and the Cardinals have stormed into second place in the division, sitting just one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the division lead.

The Cardinals were floating around the .500 mark and sitting near the bottom of the division just over a week ago so how did they get to this point? Let’s take a quick look at some team and individual stats since the start of the winning streak on May 4.

The Offense:

From the first game of the doubleheader against the New York Mets through Sunday’s win against the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals have been getting it done on both sides of the ball. The offense, though, has shown signs of life after going through plenty of ups and downs to this point in the season.

As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .281 with 25 extra-base hits and have scored 44 runs over their eight-game winning streak. They have combined for 60 strikeouts but have drawn 34 walks and reached on a hit by pitch another seven times. Over this stretch, the offense has an .812 OPS and have scored five runs or more in six games.

Nolan Arenado currently leads the team in batting average since May 4, putting up a .407 average but he was out-slugged by first baseman Willson Contreras, who has been on a tear for the better part of a month. Contreras leads the Cardinals with 1.284 OPS and his three homers and 10 RBIs also lead the team.

Another contributor to the hot stretch has been designated hitter Alec Burleson, who has turned a corner since a miserable beginning to the year from a power perspective. Before May, Burleson had a total of 13 extra-base hits dating back to last year’s All-Star break, highlighting the Cardinals’ bigger need of pop from the DH spot. The big lefty has played a big role in the hot stretch, hitting two homers and a double, which ended up being the decisive hit against Pirates ace Paul Skenes.

While most of the team has been hitting, there are still some concerns that have been overshadowed by the hot hitters. Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman continue to have a tough campaign after being promised playing time at the start of the year. In the eight game stretch, the two have combined for four hits in 28 at-bats (.143 average) and have struck out a total of 14 times. Neither player has an extra-base hit during this span and their respective runways could run out soon if the team wants to compete in the division. Ivan Herrera’s return to the lineup could further complicate matters for each of these players as the team opted to keep three catchers on the roster, meaning that Herrera will be receiving plenty of playing time as the designated hitter.

The Starters:

Holy cow. At the start of the season, it would have been nearly impossible to predict that the Cardinals starting pitchers were at the forefront of a prolonged winning streak. That has been exactly the case, though, as Cardinals starters are 6-0 with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Those numbers are actually inflated thanks to two shorter starts during the doubleheader as the staff ERA drops to a 1.20 and the WHIP improves to a phenomenal 0.78.

In the 49 innings covered by the starters in the winning streak, they have struck out 42 batters and only gave up a total of three runs during the most recent sweep of the Nationals. Erick Fedde is the headliner for these games as the righty pitched a complete-game shutout in the opening game of the series. For the first time since Opening Day, Fedde did not walk a batter and his eight strikeouts were his most in a game since April of last season. Matthew Liberatore and Sonny Gray continue to give the team a chance to win with quality starts and even Miles Mikolas has done his job, eating quality innings albeit with a quick hook from manager Oli Marmol at potential turning points in games.

The Bullpen:

Finally, last year’s strength and this year’s frustration: The bullpen. Included in this section is the amazing performance by Michael McGreevy, when the rookie covered 5.2 innings of scoreless relief against a dangerous Mets team to win the series in St. Louis. Beyond McGreevy, the bullpen has bounced back and found their form, only giving up two runs since May 4.

Kyle Leahy has continued his dominant season with four scoreless innings as he set up closer Ryan Helsley, who has three saves in four shutout outings. Steven Matz has been moved back into a permanent relief role and he threw 1.2 big innings in relief of Mikolas on Sunday. To continue on this run, the Cardinals will need JoJo Romero, John King, and Chris Roycroft to keep showing improvement and be valuable arms for Marmol early in games.

The Team:

The Cardinals now sit 22-19 and are one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central lead. The next stretch of games for St. Louis will be a challenge as they start another road series tonight in Philadelphia. After an off-day on Thursday, the Cardinals will finish their road trip with a three-game weekend series in Kansas City. When they finally return home, things do not get much easier as they host the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks before finishing the month with the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers.

No matter what outlook you had for the team coming into this season, the eight-game winning streak has been an exciting turn of events for the Cardinals. If they can maintain this run against the next stretch of tough opponents, the Cardinals will be an interesting team to follow as the season progresses and the trade deadline approaches.