St. Louis Cardinals: For a successful season, the division must be won

The St. Louis Cardinals are still in the division lead and they must stay there to call this season successful or to have the best playoff opponents.

It has been a long time since the St. Louis Cardinals have led the division this far into the season. With a 2.5 game lead over the rival Chicago Cubs, the Cardinals’ best chance for success in the postseason is to hold this lead until the end of the regular season. It also may be the only way to call this season truly successful.

It’s no secret that the past three seasons for the Cardinals have been massive disappointments. Missing the playoffs for three straight years for the first time in the 2000’s, fans are fed up but it seems like the drought is going to end this year.

The Milwaukee Brewers have fallen 7.5 games back in the division and there is a 3.5 game cushion between the 2nd Wild Card Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks who are in the hunt. With all this, the Cardinals have a 94.5% chance to make the playoffs and a 58.4% chance to win the division.

It’s fair to wonder if winning the division is the only way for the Cardinals season to be called “successful.” This is a very tough thing to quantify but with what the fans were promised at the beginning of the year that they were “all in for 2019,” the bar was set by the front office, not the fans.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
• How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
• Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
• St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8

If a team is “all-in” and finishes in second, there’s nothing else to call it other than a failure.

Most fans would be happy with at least a Wild Card berth after three years of nothing but I believe the team has to at least make it to the NLDS for the “success” stamp.

The other thought is that the team will be set up for a way easier path through the playoffs should they win the division.

Things can still change, but with the Dodgers at 42 games above .500, already at 92 wins, they are going to finish with the best record in the National League. The Braves already have 87 wins (eight more than the Cardinals) and they aren’t likely to fall apart.

Right now, the NL Central division winner is going to play the Braves. The Wild Card team will have to go through the Nationals in the one-game playoff and then go on to face the Dodgers in a five-game series. For a longer postseason run, not playing in the Wild Card game and then staying as far away from the Dodgers as possible will be best.

Winning the division is very important.

For now, the Cardinals are hanging onto their lead, but the biggest test will be in the last 10 days of the season as we have said since the All-Star Break. Seven of the last ten games are against the Cubs and the Cardinals would be smart to have the biggest division lead possible heading into those 10 games as possible.

Defining a successful season really is difficult, but the easiest way to do it is by what the team decides they are going to call success which is winning the division. Multiple players on this team are still not playing anywhere close to career norms but yet, through pitching and defense, the team has a division lead. Let’s just hope it holds.