ST. LOUIS – Opening Day is set for Thursday, and with it comes some lofty expectations for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals have earned four consecutive postseason berths and are widely considered favorites again for the National League Central.

Could that translate to something more? Depends on who you ask, but several oddsmakers give the Cardinals a fighting chance for a World Series title.

PointsBet (+2000, 20/1 odds)

ActionNetwork.com (+2500, 25/1)

Draft Kings (+1600, 16/1)

FanDuel (+2000, 20/1)

SportsBettingDime.com (+1600, 16/1)

BetMGM (+1800, 18/1)

FanGraphs gives the Cardinals a 4.7% chance at winning the 2023 World Series. It also gives a 50% chance of winning the division and a 66% chance of making playoffs through a division or wild card spot.

PECOTA, a sabermetric system for forecasting MLB performance, projects a second-place division finish for the Cardinals with around 85 wins. The projections also call for the Cardinals to be the next-closest NL team outside the postseason bubble.

ESPN’s fantasy baseball projections expect the Cardinals will have several team leaders for individual stats in 2023, including:

Hits: Paul Goldschmidt (163)

Home Runs: Paul Goldschmidt (32)

RBI: Paul Goldschmidt (104)

Runs: Paul Goldschmidt (103)

Batting average: Jordan Walker (.302)

On-base percentage: Jordan Walker (.372)

Stolen bases: Tommy Edman (27)

Wins: Miles Mikolas & Jordan Montgomery (12)

Innings pitched: Miles Mikolas (191)

Strikeouts: Jordan Montgomery (161)

Earned-run average: Jordan Montgomery (3.67)

Walks-hits per innings pitched: Jordan Montgomery (1.17)

Holds: Giovanny Gallegos (18)

Saves: Ryan Helsley (26)

The new St. Louis Cardinals season begins Thursday at 3:10 p.m. For a full guide on what to expect, click here.