Not many people projected the St. Louis Cardinals to be sitting at the bottom of the weak NL Central — but here they are. 

In the middle of May, St. Louis is sitting at a disappointing 18-26, with offseason addition Willson Contreras underperforming. While the team isn’t out of the hunt for a division title, facing a 6.5-game deficit, it’s fairly clear this isn’t a championship squad.

The team has some glaring weaknesses, particularly on the pitching side. Although Matthew Liberatore, the team’s No. 4 prospect, pitched splendidly in his season debut Wednesday, the rest of the rotation hasn’t been good.