St. Louis Cardinals: Time to Take Advantage of a Favorable Schedule

Although the St. Louis Cardinals come into tonight with a slim one-game lead for the second National League Wild Card spot, the upcoming schedule will prove significant in determining the team’s destiny this season.

August did not start strong for the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost five of their first eight games against sub-.500 teams in the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves, followed by a pair of disappointing road losses in last weekend’s series against the Chicago Cubs.

Yet the St. Louis Cardinals are fresh off a four-game winning streak, during which the team has amassed 30 runs behind nine home runs while extending the roles of recently-recalled pitching prospects Luke Weaver and Alex Reyes. Not to mention the team will be well rested in the midst of an eight-day span with three off days.

St. Louis’s upcoming series is a road tilt against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are 27th in run differential (-113) and have served the fifth most runs (541) this season. Philadelphia’s inconsistencies have translated to a 40-52 record since the two teams last met at Busch Stadium in May.

The Cardinals project to start Adam Wainwright, Luke Weaver and Mike Leake against the Phillies’ Adam Morgan, Jeremy Hellickson and Vince Velasquez. The Cardinals need to continue to capitalize on Philadelphia’s struggles similar to how they took advantage of the Houton Astros’ mishaps in their previous two-game series.

After a visit to the City of Brotherly Love, the St. Louis Cardinals will take on the New York Mets and Oakland Athletics in their final homestand of August. Given the recent downfalls of both opponents, it would be ideal for the Cardinals to win at least four of these six games.

The Mets are arguably in a worse position than when the Cardinals took a three game series in Queens late July, considering that New York fell below .500 last night and have noticed starting pitchers Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard regress.

Meanwhile, Oakland sold their top talents of Josh Reddick, Rich Hill and Billy Burns at the trading deadline, using a crew of inexperienced players who have positioned the team as one of the American League’s worst in 2016 at 52-69.

Analyzing the schedule past August can be tough, as the Cardinals and their combatants could be in different position by then. It’s possible that Matt Adams, Aledmys Diaz and Lance Lynn could return from injury in September, and swinging positive momentum into the final month could help the team prepare for other challenges that could unfold.

Fourteen games remain against the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, two division rivals who the St. Louis Cardinals hone a combined record of 16-8 against this season. St. Louis has capitalized with 39 victories against teams below .500, which to an extent promotes these as must-win matchups.

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St. Louis’s last road trip takes the team through three different time zones. This will also take them out west to face the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies. The main challenge could be taking ownership against teams that have historically worked postseason magic against the Cardinals. Regardless where either lies in the postseason picture by then, St. Louis’s 36-23 road record could bode well against a San Francisco team. The Giants hold the major league worst 9-21 record post All-Star break.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had the Cardinals’ number for most of the year with an 8-5 edge head-to-head. To make matters worst, the Pirates’ recent youth movement projects them as a challenging opponent for St. Louis until the start of October. Both division rivals have a home series remaining against one another, and Pittsburgh has won four straight series to increase their push the second NL Wild Card spot.

Who could forget the six upcoming games with the Chicago Cubs? Perhaps the St. Louis Cardinals’ upcoming series against their historical rival doesn’t hold many division implications (13 GB). But a small sample size in September could represent how the Cardinals approach their likely playoff opponent if they win the NL Wild Card Game.

Next: Lance Lynn Moving Towards Becoming A Factor

Compared to other postseason runs, it hasn’t been easy to brand this chase with much excitement or high expectations. However, the more favorable series the Cardinals are able to win, the more likely Mike Matheny‘s roster will be positioned for their sixth straight bid of postseason baseball in October.