Miles to go Before October

Once again, I am confused as to how THIS is a playoff team, as no one in the starting lineup OR the bench is batting over .290, or that the staff's ace, Miles Mikolas, is having a very okay year leaving the team to rely more on Dakota Hudson and Jack Flaherty (perhaps spreading them a bit too thin), or that their marquee guy Matt Carpenter is being unseated by a guy no one has heard of.

...I'd say that the Cardinals are only winning this division by default, but since that seemed to piss off a bunch of Orioles fans when I did so 5 years ago, I'm not doing it now. Hell, if the 2014 Orioles got to the World Series, the world would be a better place right now.

But we're not talking about the Orioles, we're talking about the 2019 Cardinals, who...unless something goes wrong, or right, and they let the Cubs, who are 4 games behind them, catch up, are going to win the NL Central, in a year where at multiple times the Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals have been contending.

And...I'll say this lightly...the Cardinals are the only one who hasn't had things go absolutely haywire internally. The Brewers' pitching exploded midway through the year, and around August they just decided they'd had enough of...competing. The Cubs are a fine team that may still be in the Wild Card race, but their lack of wins away from home, plus the slow dissolution of every starting pitcher except for Yu Darvish, has left them questionable for an NL Central title.

Which leaves the Cardinals. To their credit, they've done a lot to stay on top, as their pitching has improved drastically since April, with Flaherty and Hudson coming into their own, Wainwright having an impressive, classic-Waino season, Carlos Martinez coming into his own as closer, and great relief work from Giovanny Gallegos, John Gant, John Brebbia, Ryan Helsey and Andrew Miller. There's enough good pitching on this team to make up for a lineup that, while still interesting (Goldy, DeJong, Wong and Ozuna are all great), has a few too many weak spots to be taken seriously as a playoff threat.

If the season ended today, the Cards would be seeded third, and would play the Atlanta Braves in a division series. From a statistical standpoint, I can imagine this not going well for them, though since the Cards have a habit of winning when they're not supposed to, it could be close.

Coming Tonight: As the wild card race thickens in the AL, a fringe outfielder emerges as a powerhouse...as does his team.