St. Louis Cardinals: Next six games are crucial wins

The St. Louis Cardinals have turned their season around and have won each series under interim manager Mike Shildt. The winning ways must continue throughout these next six games.

The St. Louis Cardinals are slated to face the following pitchers in the Pirates series: Ivan Nova, Trevor Williams, and Joe Musgrove. Let’s take a look at each.

Nova has a 2018 record of 7-8 with a 4.20 ERA. In his last start he took the loss over six innings of 4-hit, 2-earned-run baseball. In this start against the Braves, Nova struck out four batters and walked none. This could bode well for the St. Louis Cardinals as it indicates that Nova put a lot of balls in play. Could the Cards keep these from becoming outs in the field? We will see starting tonight.

The last time Nova faced the Cardinals was on August 4 in which he allowed 4 earned runs on 8 hits across only 4.0 innings. In those four innings, Nova threw 92 pitches. Look for the Cardinals to show patience and work his pitch count once again.

Nova is slated to face-off against rookie phenom Jack Flaherty. This could be a fun pitching match to watch. I predict, however, that the St. Louis Cardinals will take the victory in this game.

Williams has a 2018 record of 10-9 with a 3.44 ERA. In his last start he took a no-decision through six innings of 2-hit, 1-earned-run baseball. In this start against the Braves, Williams struck out four batters and walked two.

The last time Williams faced the Cardinals was on August 5 in which he allowed 2 earned runs on 9 hits across only 5.0 innings. In those five innings, Williams threw 90 pitches. He was saddled with the loss. Look for the Cardinals to jump on him early to prevent him from settling-in.

Williams is slated to face-off against the masterful Miles Mikolas. If Mikolas is as great as he has been then I predict that the St. Louis Cardinals will take the victory in this game.

Musgrove has a 2018 record of 5-7 with a 3.56 ERA. In his last start he took a no-decision through four innings of 6-hit, 4-earned-run baseball. In this start against the Brewers, Williams struck out four batters and walked none.

The last time Musgrove faced the Cardinals was way back on May 25 in which he allowed 0 earned runs on 5 hits across 7.0 innings. In those seven innings, Williams threw 67 efficient pitches. He was awarded the win for stifling the Cards. This was, of course, back in the day of Mike Matheny…

Musgrove is slated to face-off against TBD. TBD has yet to appear for the St. Louis Cardinals this season. Joking aside, I think Musgrove will be the real challenge of the Pittsburgh pitchers this series. I look for the Cardinals to need to fight hard to take the Thursday game. This one is a toss-up for me until I know who the Pirates will face on the mound.

In conclusion, I look for the Cardinals to take at the very least 2-of-3 from the Pirates this series. Like I said, depending on who pitches for the Cardinals in the Thursday game, I might change my vote to a sweep but until that has been determined, I just don’t feel comfortable enough making a guess.

The St. Louis Cardinals have turned their season around and have won each series under interim manager Mike Shildt. The winning ways must continue throughout these next six games.

The St. Louis Cardinals are slated to face the following pitchers in the Reds series: Homer Bailey, Robert Stephenson (likely, is listed as TBD), and Luis Castillo (likely, is listed as TBD). Let’s take a look at each.

Bailey has a 2018 record of 1-12 with a 6.17 ERA. In his last start he took the loss over five innings of 8-hit, 3-earned-run baseball. In this start against the Cubs, Bailey struck out two batters and walked none. The newly-revamped Cardinals (who are playing better baseball than the Cubs IMO) should dominate Bailey.

The last time Bailey faced the Cardinals was on July 24 in which he allowed 2 earned runs on 5 hits across 6.2 innings. In those qualifying innings, Bailey threw 115 pitches. Look for the Cardinals to show patience and work his pitch count once again.

Bailey is likely to face-off against rookie phenom John Gant or Austin Gomber. I predict that the St. Louis Cardinals will take the victory in this game if all norms continue.

Stephenson has a 2018 record of 0-2 with a 9.26 ERA. In his last start (not his last appearance; he last appeared out of the pen facing the Cubs) he took a loss through five innings of 9-hit, 4-earned-run baseball. In this start against the Brewers, Stephenson struck out four batters and walked three.

Stephenson has never faced the Cardinals. In the past, the Cardinals have struggled against pitchers they have never seen. While some of these behaviors have perpetuated, the new hitting coaches of Mark Budaska and George Greer are likely to have plenty of video to help the Cards face Stephenson.

Stephenson is likely to face-off against the either Gant or Gomber depending on who pitches the first game of the Reds series. I look with caution to this game. I worry that silent bats will reappear since the Cardinals are facing a new-to-them pitcher.

Once the Reds formally announce who will pitch this game, I will feel more comfortable making a prediction.

Castillo has a 2018 record of 7-11 with a 5.07 ERA. In his last start he took a loss through 3.1 innings of 5-hit, 5-earned-run baseball. In this start against the Cubs, Castillo struck out two batters and walked one.

The last time Castillo faced the Cardinals was back on July 23 in which he allowed 1 earned run on 4 hits across 5.1 innings. In those five-plus innings, Castillo threw 85 pitches. He was awarded a no-decision as the Reds walked-off the Cards.

Castillo may likely face-off against a returning Adam Wainwright. Waino is currently rehabbing but looks about ready to return. Castillo and the Reds could well be a good team to test Wainwright’s readiness for a return to starting.

Regardless of who takes the mound for the Cardinals, I look for them to win this game unless they fall prey to another Reds walk-off.

In conclusion, I look for the Cardinals to take at the very least 2-of-3 from the Reds this series. In truth, though, the Reds should be a team that the St. Louis Cardinals sweep and this could well be the outcome of this series as well.

The St. Louis Cardinals have turned their season around and have won each series under interim manager Mike Shildt. The winning ways must continue throughout these next six games.

While the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Pirates and the Reds, who will their competition for the postseason face? The Cubs are set to finish their set against the Mets at home on Tuesday and Wednesday and then travel to Braves for a one-game makeup on Thursday before facing-off against the Phillies for three games.

If the Cubs keep their winning ways, they are likely to see themselves stay atop the NL-Central through these series. That said, if the Cardinals win as I have predicted, then the Cubs will certainly feel the pinch.

The Brewers- the Cardinals’ wild card competition- are set to open a 3-game set against the Reds on Tuesday (before the Reds travel to St. Louis) in the Great American (small) Ballpark. They will then travel to the Washington Nationals who sit firmly 8.0 games back of the lead in the NL-East.

With the Nationals and Reds seemingly out of the postseason race for 2018, I look for the Brewers to apply heat to the Cardinals and the Cubs as they will likely win their series as well.

The Rockies- the St. Louis Cardinals’ trailing wild card competition- will finish their short 2-game set in Los Angeles facing the Angels on Tuesday night. They dropped the first game of the set on Monday and Cardinals fans would love to see them drop Tuesday’s contest as well.

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Following an off-day, the Rockies will open a 4-game set in San Diego. Sadly, they will likely win this series which could apply pressure to the Cardinals in their respective series.

The Phillies, who are back of the Rockies in the wild card hunt, dropped the first game of the Nationals set on Monday night and have two more games in this set at home. Closing out the month of August, the Phillies will host the Cubs. I look for the Phillies to fade from view in the wild card hunt.

This means that the Dodgers stand a good chance of moving up in the wild card competition. They are set to open a 2-game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, TX on Tuesday. The Rangers are the absolute last in the AL-West and fans should look for the Dodgers to take both games (unless the Rangers can sweep them as the Cardinals recently did to them).

Following the Rangers series, the Dodgers will close the month of August hosting the NL-West first place Diamondbacks at home. This is a 4-game set that could allow the Dodgers to climb in the rankings of the NL-West so I look for them to be at the peak of their competition. That said, the Diamondbacks are likely to put up one heck of a fight.

Conclusion

The St. Louis Cardinals are the masters of their future and MUST win each game they can in this six-game set. Their competition is not looking to fade from view (with the exception of the Phillies) and if the Cardinals are interested in playing baseball in October then they need to turn on the jets now.

Looking beyond these next two series, the month of September doesn’t bring with hit a great deal of “easy” series. Keeping this in mind, the St. Louis Cardinals have no better time than now to rack up victories.

I want to see the birds on the bat in October but more importantly I want them to win and win today. Thanks for reading!