Unless you’re a fan that subscribes to the theory of ‘teams that play really stressful games late in the season tend to do better in the playoffs’, then this past series in Cincinnati and pretty much September as a whole has sucked.
The Cardinals have moved from a team that had the NL Central wrapped and were gunning for 105+ wins, to possibly playing a 1 game Wild Card against the Cubs and being done with baseball on October 7th.
Losing to the Cubs and Pirates is one thing. Getting blitzed by the Reds when they’re taking full advantage of the expanded September rosters? That’s troubling.
Skippy Shumaker is going to be this team’s grim reaper? Really?
To wit, here are some lines from the past 15 games (AVG/OBP/SLG):
- Peralta – .163/.241/.163
- Jay – .190/.261/.262
And over the past 7 games, Reynolds and Moss have gone silent:
- Reynolds – .063/.211/.125
- Moss – .000/.125/.000
The 9-2 win Sunday afternoon keeps the Bucs 2.5 games back with 3 head to head contests remaining. That’s two point five. Last week it was almost six.
We had a suspicion that this season could be one of the best confidence jobs in recent memory. A team ravaged by injuries playing castoffs and rookies all over the field morphs into a baseball factory besting a franchise record for wins?
Nah, bruh.
The seams are starting to show.
The Cardinals need Holiday, Grichuk and Adams back in this lineup ASAP. There are 19 games left, including 16 against the NL Central and 3 each against the Cubs and Pirates. The cushion that this team build through August has almost been exhausted.
Before the weekend, we hoped that a tough patch against the Cubs and Bucs was a blip. Two teams coming hard at the king because they were in a race with each other. Turns out these guys thought they could reel in the Cards… and they might be right?
The NFL season kickoff kind of took everyone’s thoughts away from what was happening on this roadie. But now you’ve got our attention, Cardinals.
Are we right be worried? When does a blip become the new norm?
Photo: FOX Sports
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