PHILADELPHIA -- St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Brandon Moss is as approachable and congenial a player as you’ll find in a major-league clubhouse. That sunny-side-up demeanor has served him well during a peripatetic career in which he’s been traded three times and played for six organizations.

Most years, Moss' passion for the game and his quest for steady employment are enough to keep him motivated. But this summer has an interesting new wrinkle. As Moss continues to pile up big numbers, he can’t resist the temptation to punctuate his home run trots with a little "I told you so."

The 2015 season was an ordeal for Moss. He labored to find his stroke amid some health issues, and he hit .217 for the Cleveland Indians before they sent him to St. Louis at the non-waiver trade deadline. More than one media observer criticized the Cardinals for overpaying when they sent former first-round draft pick Rob Kaminsky to the Indians in the deal.

As Moss reflects upon his downer of a season from a healthy distance, it’s clear he filed away some personal slights for future reference.

"I had a bad year last year and I was coming off a hip surgery, and everybody wants to look at you like your career is done and you can’t do it anymore," Moss said. "I wanted to tell them, 'Hey man, pump the brakes a little bit. I’m fighting though a lot of things here.'

Brandon Moss, who is one of nine Cardinals with at least 10 home runs, hit his team-high 23rd Sunday. Brian Garfinkel/Getty Images

"You get tired of the constant questions about it. You’re going out there and fighting every single day to be the best for your team and your teammates that you can possibly be. Everyone in the room knows that you’re battling. Everybody knows that you don’t feel right. But every single day there’s a little something in the articles written about your failures. It eats at you a little bit."

Moss had another productive day Sunday, hitting a sacrifice fly to deep right-center field off Vince Velasquez in the first inning and launching a solo shot to left center in his second plate appearance to kick-start a 9-0 Cardinals rout of the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. With 23 homers in 290 at-bats this season, Moss has the best home run ratio in the majors (one every 12.61 at-bats) for a player with at least 250 ABs.

It was a particularly impressive performance considering that Moss entered the game with three strikeouts in three career at-bats against Velasquez. In addition, Moss spent the weekend in Philly dealing with a nasty case of the stomach flu.

"I thought I was feeling better yesterday and I had a cheese steak," Moss said. "And I regretted it."

The Cardinals have taken some major injury hits this season with Matt Holliday, Matt Carpenter, Matt Adams and Rookie of the Year candidate Aledmys Diaz among those spending time on the disabled list. Moss missed almost a month with a sprained left ankle before returning to the lineup in early August.

The Cards have compensated with power up and down the lineup. With four home runs Sunday, they padded their NL-leading total to 173. Moss’ 23 leads the team, and eight of his teammates also have reached double figures. The only other time the Cardinals had nine players hit 10 or more homers was in 2000, when Mark McGwire, Will Clark, Jim Edmonds, Shawon Dunston, J.D. Drew, Ray Lankford, Craig Paquette, Edgar Renteria and Fernando Tatis achieved the feat.

Moss, an affable Georgia native, and teammate Jedd Gyorko, from West Virginia, have forged a bond as blue-collar kindred spirits. They have lockers next to each other at Busch Stadium, and they’ve formed a habit of good-naturedly chiming in on each other’s media interviews.

"Both guys have had to earn their way into being staples in the lineup," manager Mike Matheny said. "They just bring so many components to the game for us with their versatility. Both of them have been very flexible and they haven’t had any issues. It’s 'tell me where I’m going to play and let me know where I’m going to hit, and I’ll be ready to do my job.' That’s very refreshing."

Moss, who turns 33 in September, will find out how much his power surge resonates on the open market when he becomes a free agent in November. He told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis-Post Dispatch that he’s interested in remaining with the Cardinals, and general manager John Mozeliak has indicated that he’s open to the possibility of a return engagement.

If the prospect of a multiyear deal and a significant raise from his $8.25 million salary drives him, Moss doesn’t show it. The satisfaction of flipping the narrative from a year ago is reward enough.

"It’s very gratifying to show the people who wrote little articles and things about you and throw a little hate on you," Moss said. "People love to be negative -- especially now. To come back and show that you’re healthy and prove those people wrong and shove it up their a-- a little bit, yeah, it feels good."