MLB Midseason Rankings For the Top 10 Offenses in 2023 | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

2023 Stats: .252/.327/.424, 114 HR, 387 R, 55 SB, 108 wRC+, 23.4 Offense Rating

Top Five Hitters

1. Paul Goldschmidt (.288/.375/.491, 15 HR, 51 R, 46 RBI, 8 SB)
2. Nolan Arenado (.277/.324/.490, 16 HR, 37 R, 55 RBI, 2 SB)
3. Nolan Gorman (.231/.317/.459, 16 HR, 31 R, 49 RBI, 4 SB)
   
4. Jordan Walker (.294/.358/.450, 6 HR, 17 R, 22 RBI, 3 SB)
5. Brendan Donovan (.280/.372/.413, 9 HR, 37 R, 26 RBI, 4 SB)
   

Here's your understatement of the day: 2023 has not gone according to plan for the St. Louis Cardinals. It has been over a century since the last time they finished a season with a winning percentage of .420 or worse, but they were sitting at .415 through 82 games.

However, that is largely the product of a pitching staff that has allowed the seventh-most runs in the majors, as the Cardinals have collectively hit the ball pretty well.

Among National League teams, only Atlanta and Los Angeles have hit more home runs than the Cardinals, who have had a dozen different players hit at least five four-baggers. As a result, St. Louis is comfortably in the top 10 in slugging percentage and just barely outside it in on-base percentage.

Leading that charge is NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt. You mostly hear about him these days in hypothetical trades, but he is having yet another great season, roughly on pace for what would be the eighth 30 HR season of his career. Across the board, his average, OBP, slugging and OPS are marginally below his career norms. Plenty left in this 35-year-old's tank.

Nolan Arenado started slow, but in 40 games played from May 12 through June 28, he hit .311 with 13 home runs and 35 RBI, good for a 162-game pace of 53 and 142, respectively. Goldy probably should have been St. Louis' ASG representative, but Arenado is certainly worthy of heading to the eighth Midsummer Classic of his career.

The silver lining on this disastrous season in St. Louis has been rookie Jordan Walker, who started his career with a 12-game hitting streak, got demoted back to Memphis for about six weeks and came back even stronger, batting .338/.427/.529 in June.

The 21-year-old has a negative WAR on both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference, but that's because of his defense. At the plate, he has lived up to the hype.