St. Louis Cardinals are off to their best start since 1899 at 19-6

There's no disputing the place the St. Louis Cardinals hold in baseball lore. They have won 11 World Series titles and they've had some of the game's greatest players, from Stan Musial in the the 1940s and '50s to Albert Pujols in the '00s.

That makes it difficult to leave a mark on St. Louis' storied history, though the 2015 squad has managed to do just that. Monday night's 10-9 comeback win against the Chiacgo Cubs improved the Cardinals' record to a major league-best 19-6 and matching the best start to a season in franchise history.

You have to go all the way back 116 years to 1899, when the club's nickname was the Perfectos and their ace was Cy Young, to find the last time a St. Louis team came out this hot.

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Matt Carpenter has been a monster at the top of the order, hitting .347 with 14 doubles while five other Cardinals regulars are hitting above .300.

The loss of Adam Wainwright for the entire season with a torn Achilles is obviously a blow to the rotation, but it does not doom a team that has terrific pitching depth like St. Louis does. Lance Lynn, Michael Wacha and John Lackey combined with a lights-out bullpen give the Cardinals more than enough firepower on the mound to contend.

Just how good have Cardinals pitchers been? Consider this nugget from Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan:

Even with the Wainwright injury, it's not at all surprising to see St. Louis thriving this season. This is what we've come to expect from the Cardinals every year. They remain the team to beat in the NL Central.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr