How have past Cardinal teams fared in September?

The St. Louis Cardinals are in need of a massive push to close out the season. If they want to make the postseason, the team will have to go on a torrid run to end the season. With about six weeks left to go in the regular season, time is running out.

Historically, the Cardinals are a second-half team. Whether it be due to trade deadline acquisitions or players simply kicking it into another gear, Cardinal teams of old have performed quite well in the second half of the season historically. Since 2015, the Cardinals have had a better winning percentage in the second half of the season every year except 2015 --the 100-win season that still featured a .602 winning percentage in the second half -- and 2020 -- the COVID-shortened season.

The Cardinals currently have a 12-18 record in the second half in 2024, a mark significantly lower than their first-half record of 50-46. So far, it's not looking like the team will have a better second half.

With the month of August nearing its conclusion, I wanted to take a look specifically at the month of September for past Cardinal teams. Below you'll find the team's records in the month of September since 2015.

This gives the team a .529 winning percentage in the month of September since 2015. Two years stand out more than others: 2019 and 2021. 2019 is noteworthy because that is the year Jack Flaherty went berserk in the second half and launched himself to a 4th-place finish in the National League Cy Young that year.

2021 featured the Cardinals going on a 17-game win streak from September 11th through September 28th. In that stretch, the Cardinals faced off against the Cincinnati Reds (83-79 record that year), New York Mets (77-85 record), San Diego Padres (79-83 record), Milwaukee Brewers (95-67 record), and Chicago Cubs (71-91 record). That's a healthy mix of challenging teams paired with middling teams.

This year, the Cardinals go head-to-head with the Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Guardians, Colorado Rockies, and San Francisco Giants in the month of September. As of now, only the Brewers, Mariners, Guardians, and Giants are .500 or better, so there's some reprieve in September after a difficult August.

If the Cardinals continue their recent trend and have a .529 winning percentage in the month of September, they'll finish the final month of the season with a 14-12 record. Will this be enough to make the playoffs? Well, that depends on how the Cardinals close out August.

A 14-12 record over their next 26 games would put them at .500. The issue is that the Cardinals still have to face the Twins, Padres, and Yankees in August. They'll have to win five of those nine remaining games in August to finish the year above .500, assuming their trends in September continue in 2024.

The Cardinals need to close out the season strong if they intend on making the playoffs. The Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants stand in their way of being in the postseason. A huge win streak would do the team well, but even a collection of series wins would bode well for the Cardinals' postseason hopes.