Five takeaways following the St. Louis Cardinals’ early postseason exit

Oct 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Tony Cruz (48) is tagged out by Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Montero (47) during the sixth inning of game four of the NLDS at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

After Tuesday’s Game 4 loss against the Chicago Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals became the ninth 100-win team to face a division series postseason exit in the 21st century, falling victim to modern era theory that postseason is not won by the best team, but the team that performs the best in October.

The tables turned quickly for St. Louis, who dropped their last three games of the postseason for the fourth consecutive year. After John Lackey established momentum with a vintage performance in Game 1, the Cubs powered through the next three games and never looked back, scoring 15 of their 20 runs via the home run.

While the Cardinals showed signs of strength and resilience throughout the series, mistakes proved costly and exposed concerns for team’s fate in the near future. Missing the NLCS for the first time since 2011, here are five takeaways from the series that need to be addressed if the Cardinals want to improve on their postseason performance from 2015.