3 St. Louis Cardinals that need to step up for their team to reach the postseason

With the calendar getting ready to flip to September, the postseason picture is beginning to get tighter. Five-game leads start to become insurmountable, and teams on the outside looking in are seeing their playoff odds drop substantially.

For those teams on the bubble, the time is now for their underperforming players to step up if their team will have a shot at the playoffs.

These are the three that most need to improve down the stretch for the St. Louis Cardinals.

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3. Miles Mikolas

Miles Mikolas is up first, given how down of a season he is currently having. With the success he has seen in the past, fans can't be happy that Mikolas has the worst ERA on the team, with a mark of 5.19. Although spotty defense and bad luck may be playing a factor, as indicated by his 4.14 FIP, he is not having the season he did last year.

In 2023, Mikolas led all MLB in hits, recording a 4.79 ERA. That ERA was still better than what Mikolas is allowing in 2024, and an even further drop off since in 2022 3.29 All-Star season. He needs to get it together now because he can anchor this rotation when he is on his game. St. Louis has been falling in the Wild Card race but still has time to go on a run if their starting pitchers can begin to get it together.

2. Sonny Gray

Between 2022 and 2023, Sonny Gray averaged an ace-level 2.90 ERA throughout 303.2 innings. When the Cardinals signed him this past winter, the NL Central division odds immediately tilted in the Cardinals' favor.

Unfortunately, Gray has been unable to replicate that production, as witnessed by his 4.07 ERA. Granted, that mark is still above league average, but it's not what the team's front office had in mind when they signed him to a three-year, $75-million deal.

What's more alarming is that Gray's second-half ERA sits at 5.79 in the 42 innings he has tossed. He's still boasting a 30.5 percent K rate, but his batting average allowed has jumped from .220 to .261, and his FIP has spiked from 2.56 to 5.17. This is a turn for the worst and the worst timing the Cardinals could ask for. He is one of the critical reasons that the Cardinals could be much better down the stretch if he turns it around.

1. Paul Goldschmidt

If you're a Cardinals fan, you knew Paul Goldschmidt was destined to grace this list. On the cusp of future Hall of Fame status, seven-time All-Star Goldschmidt is having the worst season he's ever had. Currently slashing .227.286/.384, the power has vanished this season, leading to a drop in his key statistics. Something more may be going on, as his .286 on-base percentage is almost a whole number below the career .382 that he's accustomed to.

Whatever the case with Goldschmidt, the Cardinals need him to fix it. He's been his team's anchor offensively since he initially signed with St. Louis, and not having him produce at his normal level has been a critical blow. St. Louis sits just 24th in the league in runs per game, and not that that's all on Goldschmidt's shoulders; it is a noticeable fall-off as the team has dropped in that category over the last two years. They can't afford to have both their pitching and offense struggling right now if they wish to make it to the playoffs.