1 crazy pitching stat that has derailed the St. Louis Cardinals' season

If I were to ask you what the biggest problem facing the St. Louis Cardinals this season is, nine out of ten people would point their finger at the starting rotation. While I would mostly agree with that sentiment, there is a stat with the Cardinals' bullpen that may be even more mind-boggling.

The Cardinals' bullpen has blown 50% of their save opportunities

Yup, you read that right. The stat comes courtesy of STL Sports Central on Twitter, who found that the Cardinals have blown 13 saves this season, with only the Nationals and Orioles blowing more saves this season.

If you watch the Cardinals consistently, you feel that stat. It feels like the Cardinals are constantly finding ways to snatch a loss from the jaws of victory, losing in awful ways that you'd only expect a team that is going to drop over 100 games to lose.

And yet, the Cardinals keep giving away games.

What's even more frustrating is that the Cardinals' bullpen is way more talented than that. Ryan Helsley hasn't had the same stats this year, but his underlying numbers who he's the same guy he was last year. Giovanny Gallegos, until very recently, was pitching like one of the best relievers in baseball. Despite a terrible start to the season, Jordan Hicks has been incredible for the last month.

Other arms in the Cardinals bullpen have been solid as well, so it's hard to comprehend how bad it has been this year. It may be fair to point to the Cardinals' rotation as part of the issue, as the lack of innings may be taking its toll on the bullpen. I would subscribe to that thinking.

But either way, St. Louis needs their bullpen to hold leads better than they have this season, or it will be nearly impossible to get the division lead. For as crushing as terrible starts are from the pitching staff, it's even more frustrating when you have a lead late in games and give it away.