3 Cardinals most to blame for Wild Card defeat to Phillies

The St. Louis Cardinals were unceremoniously knocked out of the Playoffs after being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies. 

It was a magical season with plenty of storybook potential. But Cardinals’ fans did not get that happy, storybook ending they had hoped to see.

Instead, the team fell into a terrible rut, so familiar with this team. They just couldn’t get a run. Not even to save their season.

The Cardinals lost 6-3 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday.

This was not how anyone wanted to see the legendary careers of Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina end. After historic efforts in their final seasons, fans hoped to see the two figures who spent decades in Major League Baseball end things in championship fashion. While the two got hits in their final at-bats, that was it. The team couldn’t put together enough offense to get some runs to extend their season.

The team had many games over the season where they couldn’t score a run, but there were also games where they scored so many runs it could have been embarrassing for the other team. Since September, the Cardinals found themselves struggling more at the plate. Hopefully, this is something the team addresses in the offseason.

For now, let’s reflect on the NL Wild Card series with the Phillies and who could be to blame for the epic loss.

Cardinals’ closer Ryan Helsley faces some blame

Before the season ended, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley jammed a finger on his pitching hand, causing him to leave the game with one out in the team’s penultimate game of the season. The Cardinals went on to win that game 8-7.

Helsley didn’t appear in the last game of the season to get set for the playoffs.

In Friday afternoon’s game, the Cardinals secured a 2-0 lead in the 7th inning thanks to a home run by Juan Yepez. Helsley enters the game in the eighth inning. He’d advised the pitching staff that he would be good and healthy to pitch.

Helsley was about to strike out Brandon Marsh, and Kyle Schwarber popped out to Nolan Arenado to end the eighth. He looked sharp in getting the outs. They could not get an insurance run in the Cardinals’ half of the eighth inning, with Tommy Edman and Lars Nootbaar striking out. Pujols grounded out to the first base.

Manager Oli Marmol brought Helsley back into the game for the ninth inning. The decision looked smart when Rhys Hoskins struck out. And then J.T. Realmuto knocked a single to left field. They had a mound visit to make sure the pitcher was ok. Helsley then walked Bryce Harper. Pitching coach Mike Maddux and the training staff visited Helsley on the mound to make sure that jammed finger wasn’t bothering the usually effective flame thrower. Nick Castellanos walked to load the bases. And then, Helsley hit Alec Bohm with a pitch to score Realmuto.

Helsley was removed from the game quickly. Andre Pallante was brought in to replace the ailing pitcher. Despite saying everything was ok, it was later learned that Helsley lost feeling in his throwing hand. The saying goes that honesty is the best policy, and that wasn’t practiced in this case when it mattered.

The game fell wide open for the Phillies, who pulled off a victory that shocked a sold-out crowd and a Cardinals fan base expecting more.

Helsley had pitched so well down the stretch. Pitching with an exit velocity exceeding 101 mph, he was fun to watch. Hopefully, he takes the offseason to heal his hand completely before ramping up for next season.

Hopefully, he practices the art of honesty, too.