As for Bader, he often fields questions from reporters and friends about his future. Understandably so. The 23-year-old entered Sunday with a slash line of a .299 batting average, .356 on-base percentage and the aforementioned slugging percentage at .522.

The other Redbirds who had a higher slugging percentage are now Cardinals: Grichuk, Luke Voit and Paul DeJong.

“It’s just kind of how the game works — there’s a baseball side to it, in between the white lines, and then there’s a business side to it,” Bader said. “It really is a truthful answer. My deal right now is focusing on what I can control here. You can put up numbers, you win games, and it is what it is. You roll. I can’t really focus on any of that other stuff.

“I think I’ve been doing a good job at just trying to shrink the zone as best as I can. I’m always going to battle. Hitters battled their entire careers. You’ve always got something to prove out there.”

The cool thing about Bader’s numbers is they’ve improved as the season has gone on. In April, he batted .270. May was .286. Then .317 in June and .323 in July. And his monthly slugging percentage has improved each calendar turn — in July, it’s a whopping .631.