When the second half began, the St. Louis Cardinals still had a path to October. Now, that road looks nearly shut.
St. Louis is 6.5 games back in the Wild Card chase and sits behind five teams - the Pirates, D-Backs, Padres, Phillies, and Cubs.
The National League race has been a grind for months, but the Cardinals appear to have picked the wrong moment to fade. According to playoffstatus.com, their odds of missing the postseason are 99%.
That kind of collapse has a way of tracing back to one rough stretch, and for St. Louis, the damage came fast.
A road trip that once looked like it might keep the Cardinals afloat turned sour in Philadelphia, where they dropped three straight. The Phillies are a real postseason threat and a legitimate World Series contender, but St. Louis had chances in every game and walked away empty-handed.
From there, the Cardinals headed west and gave themselves another opening. They played well against the Dodgers, handled the Rockies well enough, and seemed set up to make noise against a Giants club that has spent much of the year stumbling through drama, unrealized potential, and front office jargon.
Instead, San Francisco took control and beat St. Louis in three straight. Tony Vitello’s team was the same messy group that has often been tough to watch, but it still landed the blow that effectively ended the Cardinals’ push.
The last time St. Louis was in the postseason was 2022, when its October run ended quickly and painfully in a Wild Card series against the Phillies.
This stretch has also exposed how much the Cardinals still rely on young players learning on the fly. When things are rolling, they can play a lively, dynamic brand of baseball. But once the losses start piling up, the game seems to speed up on them.
The timing stings, but there is still something to take from the experience. Even if the postseason window is closing, the Cardinals have gained valuable reps in a pressure stretch that should matter when they take another swing at it in the seasons ahead.
In Other News...
Willson Contreras Had Another Dugout Blowup And Cardinals Fans Know The Look
Willson Contreras rehab assignment with the Boston Red Soxs Double-A Portland Sea Dogs produced another moment that felt familiar to Cardinals fans who have seen his emotions flare before. During an at-bat, Contreras appeared to take issue after the umpire would not let him get more pine tar, and the sequence ended with a strikeout and his bat being tossed back onto the field.
The aftermath only added to the intrigue. Asked about it afterward, Contreras pointed reporters back to the umpire named Gary, leaving the fuller context murky and suggesting there was more to the exchange than what unfolded in that one at-bat. For St. Louis observers, it was the kind of dugout-adjacent flashpoint that can follow Contreras around, even in rehab. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Still Feel Two Offseason Losses More Than Expected
The Cardinals have managed to stay more competitive than plenty of people expected after an offseason teardown that sent away Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan in favor of younger talent. Even with that kind of turnover, the club has held up better than projected, but the missing pieces still show up in ways that matter, especially when it comes to stabilizing the rotation and tightening the infield.
Grays departure has left a noticeable gap in the starting staff, while Arenados absence is still being felt on the left side of the diamond, where his defense at third base used to be a nightly safety net. Gray is now a free agent, which keeps open at least the possibility of a reunion if the Cardinals decide the rebuild needs a veteran correction along the way. [Read more 🡒]
JJ Wetherholt Faces A Crucial Test In Cardinals Return Push
JJ Wetherholts return to the Cardinals lineup is inching closer, and Tuesdays pregame workout may be the most important step yet. The rookie, out with right wrist tendinitis, is slated to go through another round of testing as St. Louis keeps working him back toward game action, with manager Oliver Marmol making clear that the workout will help shape what comes next.
The Cardinals are hopeful Wetherholt can rejoin them during the current homestand, with activation possible as early as Wednesday or Thursday. For a club trying to piece together its roster in the middle of the schedule, the timing matters, but the final decision still hinges on how his wrist responds when hes put through the paces before the game. [Read more 🡒]