In a sport like baseball, the law of large numbers ultimately prove out. In MLB, every team plays 162 games before we even get to the postseason. The best teams in baseball still lose at least 20 percent of their games, and vice versa for the worse franchises known to mankind. It is what you do with the other 60 percent that makes all the different. One team in the middle of it all is the St. Louis Cardinals.
St. Louis enters play on Monday night with a 22-19 record. By winning their last eight games, the Cardinals are now only two games back of the arch rival Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. But despite being among the hottest teams in baseball with the likes of the red-hot Minnesota Twins, not all schedules are created the same. Perhaps St. Louis has taken advantage of a soft spot in their slate?
While St. Louis did take the final two of three at home vs. the New York Mets, their subsequent home sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates and then its ensuing road sweep of the Washington Nationals can have holes poke into it. The next four series for the Cardinals will not be easy: at Philadelphia Phillies, at Kansas City Royals, home vs. Detroit Tigers and home vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. Can they thrive?
All four of these clubs are currently above .500 and very much in postseason contention as well, too.
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What do the St. Louis Cardinals need to do over their next four series?
Right now, I think the Cardinals need to go around 8-4 in their next 12 games to best keep pace with the Cubs in the division. Although they cannot control what the Cubs do over the next two weeks, it is imperative that St. Louis continues to play great baseball at home, while also doing a better job of holding serve away from Busch Stadium. Simply put, they need to go 3-3 over the next six games.
To go on the road and win more than three games in their combined six vs. the Phillies and Royals is a bit of a stretch. If you can win a road series, that would be ideal. Even if they only take one at Philadelphia and Kansas City, it would go a long way from potentially getting sweep away from St. Louis and robbing this team of all its momentum. After that, they must take care of business at home.
Ideally, the Cardinals take two-of-three at home vs. the Tigers and Diamondbacks in those two series. Getting the best of Detroit could be challenging, so that may necessitate the importance of potentially sweeping Arizona. Then again, the Snakes are too good to be taken complete advantage of that. I would argue than anything better than 8-4 is spectacular, 7-5 is great, 6-6 has to happen.
If St Louis is 5-7 or worse over the Cardinals next 12 games, then they took advantage of a soft spot.