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Ludwick’s trade was a less than popular decision, but the loss can be softened. And it’s not just Jon Jay. The resurgence of a couple of Cardinal bats is breathing life back into the lineup.

Here’s a breakdown of Cardinals with 50 plate appearances since the All-Star break.

• Jon Jay  .373 BA, .449 OBP, 8 2B
• Yadier Molina .355 BA, .417 OBP, 2 IBB
• Albert Pujols   .326 BA, .369 OBP, 7 HR
• Brendan Ryan .304 BA, .342 OBP, 14-6 record
• Matt Holliday   .302 BA, .381 OBP, 5 HR
• Aaron Miles .298 BA, .306 OBP, 2 2B
• Skip Schumaker .286 BA, .375 OBP, 11 RBI
• Felipe Lopez .233 BA, .333 OBP, 5 2B
• Colby Rasmus .232 BA, .276 OBP, 22 SO

The offense looks good. Crazy considering they’ve been shut out three times in the 23 games since the break.

Molina and Ryan standout considering their 2010 season batting averages are sitting at .252 and .220 respectively. Schumaker OBP is approaching leadoff status again. The everyday players, besides Lopez and Rasmus, are all performing well.

You have to think Jay and Molina will come back to earth eventually and Rasmus should pick things up. While it would be nice to have another power bat to complement numbers 5 and 7, knocking singles together can be just as lethal.