10 reasons why it is time to give up on the Cardinals' playoff chances this season

Their schedule is brutal the rest of the way

According to Tankathon, the Cardinals have the seventh most difficult schedule the rest of the season. After they wrap up this four-game series against the Padres, they still have series against the Yankees, Brewers, Guardians, Mariners, and Giants, as well as games against scrappy teams like the Pirates, Reds, and Blue Jays.

I just don't know how to believe that a club that is not performing right now will somehow magically start winning every single series they play in from here on out against opponents that are objectively better than them.

I get it, the Cardinals just took two of three from the Brewers and the Twins. But I can't move the goalpost for them. I have not been a believer in the Brewers all season and I still believe they are a worse team than what their record shows, so I can't act like that is all that impressive when the Cardinals take two of three from them. The Twins, frankly, had an awful lineup out there this weekend with multiple of their big bats being out right now. Sure, congrats to the Cardinals, but it does not give me confidence as they face some of their opponents to come.

Okay, sure, the Cardinals could have won every single game of their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they did not. They lost two of three, and at this point in the season, close losses are not something you can write home about. All that matters are wins and losses, and they cannot afford to "take heart" in losing to a good team.

This is what happens when your club does not take care of business since the middle of July and starts the season as slow as they did. They showed they can overcome one of those kinds of massive slumps as a team, but twice? Yeah, that is a tough hole to climb out of, especially when you have to face playoff-caliber teams almost every night from now till the end of the season.

I guess one silver lining is that, if the Cardinals get beat down over the next week or two, maybe they waive the white flag sooner and allow more of their young guys to play. Speaking of which, there is a certain veteran in their lineup who just continues to take this offense in the opposite direction of where it needs to go.