MLB Playoffs 2016: 3 reasons the Cardinals will make it

The summer has not gone as they typically do in St. Louis. But as the dust settles the Cardinals have more than just a puncher’s chance at the postseason.

It would be fair to say that 2016 has not gone to plan for Mike Matheny’s St. Louis Cardinals. Stuck firmly behind their chief rivals and the game’s top team in the Chicago Cubs, they have been fighting for their life just to stay relevant in the Wild Card race for the better part of two months.

But now as game 162 awaits at the end of this week, it is far from surprising to find the Cardinals still in the thick of the race for one of the Wild Card play-in game slots. Sitting a half game behind the San Francisco Giants for the final spot entering play on Monday, the Cardinals are arguably the most dangerous component in the three-team race. In addition to their stockpile of clutch experience, they have successfully reinvented themselves as a power first-style team, that is more remiscent of the American League style teams that Tony LaRussa brought to Busch a decade ago than the pitching first/low run support squad they were a year ago.

So as the season’s final week sets in, what do the Cardinals have on their side that gives them the edge not only in reaching the postseason, but potentially making some noise once they get there?

3. Scheduling odds are in their favor

The Cardinals have not been a good team at home this year, and it has been the biggest reason for why they are in the position they are in entering the season’s final week. On the year, they are 33-41 at Busch Stadium, just a season after leading all of baseball in home wins, taking home 55 of their 100 2016 wins at home.

But despite these woes, there still is nowhere like home, especially during the final week of the season. They have seven games against the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch this week, teams they have combined for a 15-16 record against on the year and a 6-7 record in St. Louis against. But all things considered, one can do worse than having a pair of teams carrying a collective .458 winning % on the year standing between them and the postseason. And while an opportunity to play spoiler and pull the postseason away from the team that had won the division annually since 2013 would be a nice consolation prize for lost seasons in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, the Cardinals don’t have the Dodgers looming ahead of them, as the Giants do to close out their year.

However, the past being what it is, the Reds are coming into St. Louis losers of three of their last 10 contests, and have recently jettisoned Cardinal killer Billy Hamilton (.385 avg, 15 stolen bases versus STL) to the disabled list for the rest of the season to rehab his injured left oblique. The Cardinals need every bit of favor that they can generate, and having little favors like this on their side will be very helpful.

Also, Busch Stadium is raucous fall environment that has grown annually accustomed to October baseball and will be ready to provide every edge that they can for the home team. The occasional fifth inning, two-out scenario carrying ninth inning energy could be a regular occurrence over the next week in downtown St. Louis.