Updated NL Playoff Picture and Wild Card standings after Cardinals 5 straight series wins

When the St. Louis Cardinals stumbled out of the All-Star Break and sold off Dustin May, JoJo Romero, and Lars Nootbaar at the trade deadline, it sure felt like the end of what was an exciting chase for success in Year 1 of their rebuild.

Well, they've rattled off five straight series wins since then, and their 11-5 record during that stretch has boosted them right back into the thick of the NL Postseason chase.

Updated NL Playoff standings after Cardinals five-straight series wins

While the Cardinals still haven't reclaimed a playoff spot over the last few weeks, the NL Playoff picture has shifted a bit, and now St. Louis is within striking distance of a Wild Card berth. Here is what the current playoff picture would look like if the season ended today:

The Brewers, Dodgers, and Braves are primed to duke it out for seeding down the stretch, while the Phillies and Padres will need to hold on tight if they want to keep their Wild Card placements down the stretch. Let's take a look at how close the Cardinals are to pushing for a Wild Card spot.

Latest NL Wild Card Standings

St. Louis is just 2.5 games back of the Wild Card right now, and they actually have a three-game set against the Philadelphia Phillies this weekend where they can gain even more ground in the standings.

An added wrinkle to this equation is the remaining strength of schedules for each club down the stretch, which actually seems to favor the Cardinals compared to almost every other team in the Wild Card race.

Only Arizona has an easier strength of schedule remaining, with both the Cubs and Phillies having two of the top six toughest schedules remaining. Obviously, the Cardinals still have to take care of business, but their opponents do seem to have a tougher path toward a postseason berth as things currently stand.

The roadmap to playing October baseball is not easy for St. Louis, but it is certainly doable. Many have counted them out at various points this year, but they have been able to continue vaulting themselves into the hunt time and time again. While I do not think they should be favored to make the postseason at this point, they certainly have a shot with how they've been playing as of late.

In addition, the Cardinals do still have a few levers they can pull to improve their chances at the postseason. Top prospects like Cooper Hjerpe or Leo Bernal could impact their roster in a significant way if they earn a call-up soon. Other young arms like Cade Winquest or Hancel Ricon could as well. And depending on how the Cardinals want to handle Matthew Libeartore's struggles or Kyle Leahy's innings limit, Quinn Mathews may see more starts here soon.

Their push continues tonight in Philadelphia, and if the Cardinals can manage to pull off their sixth straight series win or even a sweep, some fun conversations will have to brew regarding their status for the rest of the season.

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