St. Louis Cardinals: How many wins will it take to make the playoffs?

The St. Louis Cardinals have as much of a chance to make the playoffs in 2020 as anyone else. With just 60 games, how many wins will it take to make it?

As of today, there will not be expanded playoffs in 2020. While there is still some speculation that the owners and the MLBPA might come to an agreement before the start of the season to expand playoffs, but for now the playoff structure in 2020 will look just like it did in 2019. This makes things interesting for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Last year, the Cardinals won 91 games and won the NL Central, much to many fans’ surprise. this year, the amount of games it will take to repeat that result is a big question.

When you look at their winning percentage (56.2%), that replicated over a 60-game season would put their win total at just 33 games.

Seems a little too easy, doesn’t it?

In 2019, the Cardinals won 18 games in two different months. If the team could win that in the first month, it’s easy to think they could at least get a Wild Card spot, but it’s impossible to be so sure. Any team could come out of nowhere and take the division.

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First off, the Cardinals and the World Series Champion Nationals both would’ve missed the playoffs had 2019 ended after 60 games. However, there have been other teams to surprise in the first 60 games. The 2019 Cubs finished the year with just 84 games (3rd in NL Central) but started the first 60 games with a record of 34-26. Even the Philadelphia Phillies started 2019 33-27, a 90 game pace, but finished the year at 81-81.

60 games will be completely different, but it’s going to take at least 33 games to make the playoffs. With the Cardinals and the rest of the NL Central playing more games than usual against the lowly Tigers and Royals, the Cardinals can’t afford to take a single game for granted.

Ties at the end of the season are bound to happen. That’s going to be part of what will make the on-field part of the 2020 season so fun.