Cardinals: What are St. Louis’ odds to win the World Series?

At this point, the St. Louis Cardinals are all but guaranteed a playoff berth. But what are their chances of winning the World Series?

The St. Louis Cardinals are going to the playoffs. Well, their odds are 99.9 percent entering Wednesday as their lead in the National League Central sits at 8.5 games, so it’s all but a sure thing with 13 games left in the regular season.

But what are the Cardinals’ chances of winning the World Series?

According to FanGraphs, those odds are 3.3 percent, which is the fifth best odds in the National League behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (17.1 percent), New York Mets (16.8 percent), Atlanta Braves (12.3 percent) and San Diego Padres (5 percent). Overall, it’s the ninth best odds in baseball, as the Houston Astros (15.4 percent), New York Yankees (8.9 percent) and Toronto Blue Jays (6.4 percent) also have better odds.

To me, it’s surprising that the Cardinals’ World Series odds are so low. They’ve felt like a sneaky legit threat to win it all for some time now, as they have just had the feel of a true playoff contender. But there is reason to be skeptical about the Cardinals, as their offense — led by Paul Goldschmidt — has been stagnant in recent weeks while starting pitcher Adam Wainwright is dealing with a dead right arm.

Their low World Series odds may also just be because of how good the Dodgers are. They are absolutely loaded, both with hitting and pitching, and look like a juggernaut with a 103-45 record. The Braves, too, are the defending World Series champions while the New York Mets have the pitching with Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and others capable of beating anyone.

I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if the Cardinals advanced to the National League Championship Series or even the World Series. Their road to get there is tough, however, but their odds of getting to the biggest stage in baseball should be higher than 3.3 percent — at least to me.