ST. LOUIS -- The nature of Jon Lester has been to intertwine himself with the Cardinals at every step of his career. As a Red Sox, he was a Cardinal killer in the 2013 World Series, winning a pair of games with one earned run allowed across 15 1/3 innings (both over Adam Wainwright). As a Cub, he was public enemy No. 1 … for obvious reasons.

Wearing the Birds on the Bat himself? Playing alongside Wainwright and Yadier Molina instead of opposing them? That’s taking him -- and baseball en masse -- some getting used to. But Lester, who arrived to the club prior to Sunday’s series finale against the Twins, admitted he’s getting there.

“Having that little bit of separation [from the Cubs] I think kind of changes the whole perspective a little bit,” said Lester, who was acquired from the Nationals right at the Trade Deadline on Friday. “I'm excited that they picked here for me and they wanted me here to try to help out.”

It’s the new reality for both him and the Cardinals for the remainder of the season. Lester, 37, slots into a rotation with all but one of its members 36 years or older (and Kwang Hyun Kim is 33), while featuring four lefties. He now owns the chance to absorb innings as the Cardinals look to “make some noise” in the season’s final two months.

Lester will make his Cardinals debut when he opens up a three-game set against the Braves at Busch Stadium on Tuesday. Jake Woodford was optioned to Triple-A Memphis as the corresponding move for Lester’s activation.

“It kind of feels good to be kind of one of the guys as opposed to the oldest guy,” Lester laughed. “I've gone against Waino so many times. Big games, just regular games -- doesn't matter. The respect level is there.”

The new digs did not come without some new friends to be made. Lester had to sway pitching coach Mike Maddux away from No. 31. Maddux obliged (he’s now No. 35), and Lester has started to feel out which gift he needs to buy in order to thank his new pitching coach for the switch.

The move was just as much a haze for Lester as it was for both the Cubs and Cardinals’ fanbases. Friday’s deal was the second time Lester had been traded around his youngest son’s birthday. Though he wasn’t necessarily surprised about the move when the Nationals started to sell off the likes of Max Scherzer, his son was sad to see him leave some of his favorite players -- Trea Turner and Juan Soto.

It’s not as weird for his son that Lester is a Cardinal, unlike the rest of the baseball world. Now he’s finding out which teammates to pigeonhole in on; Wainwright and Molina are the early favorites.

“He doesn't really care about me,” Lester joked. “I'm dad.”

Dak on track

As Cardinals manager Mike Shildt was asked about his bullpen picture coming to shape, he used the words “huge,” “great,” and “strong.”

And it could see a big change before the close of the year.

Shildt revealed that Dakota Hudson, rehabbing at the complexes in Jupiter, Fla., is throwing bullpens and is starting to face live hitters as he comes back from his Tommy John surgery last September. A return to a big league mound this season, most likely as a reliever, is very possible, Shildt said.

“Dakota has a better chance of him, A.) pitching for an affiliate, and then, B.) pitching for us,” Shildt said.

Hudson’s chances are better than Jordan Hicks, Shildt said. The Cardinals are hoping Hicks can simply throw off a mound before the close of the season, whether that be outside game action, for a Minor League affiliate or, increasingly hard to see, in the Majors.

“We want to make sure he's recovered and healed, and [that] there's no setback,” Shildt said. “That may or may not be during our season of 2021.”

Signing period nears a close

Sunday at 4 p.m. CT marks the deadline for all 30 MLB teams to sign their crop of selections from the 2021 Draft. The Cardinals will hit that deadline with all but one of their Draft picks signed.

On Thursday, they came to an agreement with 17th-round selection Elijah Cabell (outfielder, Florida State), but the club does not plan to sign its 20th-round selection, Wichita State commit Xavier Casserilla (third baseman, V.R. Eaton (Texas) HS).

All told, the Cardinals went overslot for five of their 20 signees in the Draft, most notably second-rounder Joshua Baez and seventh-rounder Alec Willis, both being signed away from blue chip college commitments. Cabell, for his part, was signed for the slot value of $125,000 for picks past the 10th round. He is also the owner of one of the most prodigious homers in recent NCAA baseball action: