4 emerging superstars the Cubs may have to be afraid of in the NL Central

The St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals were on the list of teams expected to improve by ten or more wins if for no other reason than the fact that they were abysmal last season and they could improve by ten games simply by putting together a mediocre year. 

They added RHP Sonny Gray, RHP Kyle Gibson, and RHP Lance Lynn. They then traded for RHP Andrew Kittredge and LHP Nick Robertson and they’ve got INF Masyn Winn and RHP Tink Hence on the rise, but the player expected to have a huge sophomore season is OF Jordan Walker. 

The St. Louis Cardinals also made the list which shouldn’t come as a shock. The idea that the Cardinals would have multiple losing seasons in a row is unlikely and after a 71-91 record last year if they made it back to .500 they’d make a ten-game improvement over 2023. 

Randhawa had this to say of Walker:

"Walker, the Cardinals’ No. 1 prospect heading into last season, was sensational to begin his MLB career in ’23, tying Eddie Murphy’s 1912 record of 12 consecutive games with a hit to start a career by a player 20 years old or younger. But Walker hit just .192 over the next eight games and was optioned to Triple-A Memphis."

Manny Randhawa, MLB.com

Oftentimes with young players there are glaring holes in their game, but when the only thing standing between a player and excellence is consistency, they tend to reach that excellence more often than not which is the last thing Cubs fans should want to see.