Despite sputtering out of the gate to begin the second half and selling at the Trade Deadline, as of Thursday morning, the Cardinals sit just 2 1/2 games out of the third National League Wild Card spot with 41 games left in the regular season.
Winning three straight series coming out of the Deadline has provided a nice boost to the club. While they still have to pass three teams (currently Arizona, Philadelphia and Miami) to secure a postseason berth, that goal feels much more achievable today than it did a few weeks ago.
Here are three keys for the Cardinals to stay in that race:
- Core four must lead the offense
All season, the Cardinals’ results have seemingly been tied to the production of the top four hitters in their lineup -- JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker. When that quartet is productive, the Cardinals find ways to win, and lately, they’ve been catching fire again.
While both Walker and Wetherholt have struggled to hit for power over the last two weeks, the duo is getting on base at a high clip, while Walker is finding ways to drive in runs with singles and doubles in the outfield grass. Herrera and Burleson, on the other hand, have been literally powering the offense with their 17 combined extra-base hits over their last 14 games.
During parts of June and especially in July, these four struggled to replicate the success they found at the plate early in the year. Now that they are back to producing like true top-of-the-order talents, it’s no wonder the Cardinals are winning games again.
- Consistency from their bullpen
The subject of a lot of criticism this year, the Cardinals’ bullpen has been a lot better as of late. Since the Trade Deadline, the bullpen has a 3.81 ERA, significantly better than its season mark of 4.32.
The Cardinals’ rotation has been about as good as you can ask for all season, ranking 10th in starter ERA and just outside the top 10 in innings pitched. When manager Oliver Marmol goes to the bullpen, it’s typically after his starter has given the team a chance to win the game, so it becomes very demoralizing when the bullpen cannot hold a lead.
A resurgence from closer Riley O’Brien has been especially noteworthy. Since June 22, O’Brien has posted a 1.10 ERA in 16 1/3 innings, locking down the ninth inning with ease after a summer laden with tightrope finishes and blown saves. Couple that with steady production from Justin Bruihl, Ryne Stanek and George Soriano, and the bullpen now instills more confidence that they’ll get the job done.
- Take care of business against the NL Central
Seventeen of the Cardinals' final 41 games will come against NL Central opponents, meaning that if they excel against their rivals, there’s a good chance St. Louis ends up with a shot at making the postseason.
Of those matchups, 14 are slated against the Cubs, Reds and Pirates. The Cardinals are 15-10 against the trio this season. Conversely, they are 2-8 against Milwaukee this year with one series to go.
All of this begins this weekend with three games at Wrigley Field. Whenever the Cardinals and Cubs face off, it tends to be an action-packed series, and late-season contests at Wrigley have been known to change the trajectory of either club in a given season. While the Cubs' postseason chances seem pretty secure right now, the Cardinals have the chance to make up ground in their own race to October. Meanwhile, the Cubs will try to knock them further out of the postseason picture.
The Cubs are playing some of their best baseball right now, going 17-8 since the All-Star Break and looking like a legitimate threat to make a World Series run. St. Louis likely won’t find themselves in that conversation this year, but when everyone is playing to their capabilities, they can win a series against any team in baseball.
Stack some more of those, and the Cardinals will have themselves an eventful September, chasing their first playoff appearance since 2022.