St. Louis Cardinals: A cardinal perspective of the 2017 postseason

The St. Louis Cardinals would have entered the postseason via the Wild Card games should they have managed a better season.

Without the St. Louis Cardinals in the postseason, many fans will feel that there just isn’t much to watch. Not true. Not true indeed as the Wild Card games alone provide much to watch.

American League

In the American League, the Minnesota Twins must face the New York Yankees and former-Cardinal Matt Holliday in order to progress. This incredible competition will take place on October 3 and is the official kick start to the 2017 post season.

The 2017 Minnesota Twins finished with a record of 84-77. So not so much better than the St. Louis Cardinals but better enough to clinch a spot into postseason play. This record was also good enough to slot the Twins finishing the AL-Central in second place.

The 2017 New York Yankees finished with a record of 91-70 which far eclipses that of the St. Louis Cardinals. This record was good enough for the Yankees to finish the regular season entrenched firmly in second place in the AL-East.

When going head-to-head this season, the Yankees defeated the Twins four times and lost only twice in the six competitions. This record would hint that the Yankees are the best bet to defeat the Twins in the Wild Card game.

This Wild Card match-up of 2nd place teams is sure to be one to watch. The Twins will likely send Ervin Santana to the mound to face power hitters like Holliday and Aaron Judge. The Yanks could send Luis Severino or Sonny Gray to face the Twins hitters like Joe Mauer.

The Yankees won the last three contests facing the Twins so momentum is in their favor. Moreover, these three contests were just shortly ago on September 18, 19, and 20.

Despite the momentum, the Twins will look to play upset to the Yankees and will look to face the Indians in the first full round of the postseason. My prediction, however, is that the Yankees will defeat the Twins and move forward.

National League

Now to the home of the St. Louis Cardinals– the National League. October 4 will see the competition wherein the Cardinals should have played (but remember that I don’t believe this year’s team deserved the postseason). Sans the Cardinals, the NL Wild Card game is set as the Rockies facing the Diamondbacks.

The Colorado Rockies finished the 2017 season with a record of 87-74 which was good enough to finish in third place in the NL-West (a very tough division). The St. Louis Cardinals finished in third place in the NL-Central but did so with fewer wins which allowed the Rockies to hold the second Wild Card spot.

Oh, and the Brewers were eliminated by the Cardinals which prevented them knocking out the Rockies. Sorry, Trevor!

The Arizona Diamondbacks finished the 2017 season with a record of 92-69 which was good enough to finish in second place in the NL-West. The Diamondbacks were a force to be reckoned with and forced the NL-West first place team to play hard all season.

In head-to-head competitions in 2017, the Diamondbacks defeated the Rockies 11 wins to eight losses. Interestingly, these head-to-head numbers are eerily similar to those of the AL competition in terms of one team’s winning percentage over the other.

The Diamondbacks are likely to send Zack Greinke to the mound to face the Rockies hitters like Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Carlos Gonzalez. Going up against AJ Pollock, J.D. Martinez, and Paul Goldschmidt, the Rockies are likely to turn to Jon Gray.

The last time these two teams faced each other was on September 11-14 in a four-game split, thus no real momentum exists for either club. That said, however, I am inclined to believe that the Diamondbacks will advance to face the Dodgers in the first full round of the postseason on the NL side.

A quick look at if the St. Louis Cardinals had made it to this game rather than the Rockies (the club it would have replaced) shows that the Diamondbacks would have found themselves facing a weaker opponent than the one they face in the Rockies.

In head-to-head contests in 2017, the Diamondbacks defeated the Cardinals only three times while falling to the Cards a total of four times. Granted, the times the Diamondbacks faced the St. Louis Cardinals was a time when the Dbacks were weakened.

That all said, I doubt the 2017 St. Louis Cardinals would stand much of a chance in defeating the team from Arizona in a one-game play-in competition.