Is this Turner Ward's final homestand with the Cardinals?

The St. Louis Cardinals are 10 for 62 with runners in scoring position over their last three series against Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds, and Seattle Mariners. This should be the final homestand for Turner Ward as hitting coach for the Cardinals.

Given the talented hitters the Cardinals have, these numbers are unacceptable. The question remains if they will be unacceptable enough to the right people to make them agree that a change in the hitting coach is desperately needed.

Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, the organization's top two hitters, and Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker, the organization's top two hitting prospects, have all had their struggles this season at the plate. Something is just not clicking.

Arenado is 12 for 55 over his last 15 games, while Goldschmidt is 19 for 56. Gorman and Walker have had trips to AAA Memphis to work on their hitting after abysmal efforts with St. Louis. In his last 15 games with St. Louis, Gorman was nine for 48 before he was optioned to Memphis on August 21.

On April 24, Walker was optioned to Memphis. He was recalled to St. Louis on April 12, only to be optioned back to Memphis on August 20. He returned to St. Louis on August 30 with the promise of playing "every day." In Walker's last 15 games with the Cardinals, he is 11 for 50 with three home runs and eight RBI. Given some consistency, he has taken what he learned from Memphis and applied it for some success.

The Cardinals' hitting has been a struggle for several years now—think after Mark McGwire left the position and Tony LaRussa retired.

The Cardinals have always excelled at hitting and moving along the base path. But not anymore. The organization must fix this immediately. The organization is expected to have a busy offseason with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak taking a different role in the final season of his contract. Chaim Bloom is expected to take on a more prominent role. The organization will be looking for someone to head player development.

Many good things are on the horizon for the Cardinals. Making a significant change in coaching will be critical to a successful offseason. The organization needs more staffing to help the hitters, and getting an experienced coach with time in the Cardinals organization would be great. If the Cardinals don't have a good fit in-house, the team must look outside the box because another season of subpar hitting from big names is entirely unacceptable.

After these final weeks, fans can hopefully say goodbye to the lousy hitting we've endured for over a decade.