74-74 is 1.5 games back of 3rd wildcard spot

[ramfandan]

Yes, that's the Reds with the Giants and Mets just ahead of them .

Believe it or not , the Cardinals had a shot to get within 3 games of the final wildcard spot but blew their big lead with the Brewers.
The Mets, Giants, and Reds all lost tonight but so did the Cardinals .
About 83 wins may take the final wildcard spot . The Cardinals playing 11-2 would get 83 wins . Pretty laughable to think they could pull off that win streak with the way they are playing. RIght now they look at maybe a 77 -85 win season ? That would be if they finish 5-8 n the final 13 .
A winning 7-6 final 13 games would be a 79-83 final record, an exact opposite of last year's 83-79 record.

[Wattage]

Yes, that's the Reds with the Giants and Mets just ahead of them .

Believe it or not , the Cardinals had a shot to get within 3 games of the final wildcard spot but blew their big lead with the Brewers.
The Mets, Giants, and Reds all lost tonight but so did the Cardinals .
About 83 wins may take the final wildcard spot . The Cardinals playing 11-2 would get 83 wins . Pretty laughable to think they could pull off that win streak with the way they are playing. RIght now they look at maybe a 77 -85 win season ? That would be if they finish 5-8 n the final 13 .
A winning 7-6 final 13 games would be a 79-83 final record, an exact opposite of last year's 83-79 record.

Ho estly, the only reason the wildcard spot has fallen that close is cuz we gave helsley to the mets to sabotage them. Hes now pitching mopup but contributed to like 4 losses earlier

[HorseTrader]

The real race is for the for the 5th best odds in the draft. Right now we are 8th for 2.28% odds. The A's have the 5th spot for 6.34% chance. We are 3 games behind (or a head) we have get past the Marlins and Baltimore, then the A's. Ideally we'd take the 4th spot from the Braves but that's a long shot. We are 6.5 games behind them, that's lot to make up (or down???) in a short time but the 4th spot gets 12
2% chance at the #1 pick. Biggest problem is that those crazy Braves are on a roll, they've lost 4 straight

[ggnoobs]

I haven't reviewed the schedules to see if this is possible, but it might be, to have a team get into the playoffs with a record under .500. Imagine the black eye that would be on MLB. More and more I do not like the 3rd wild card.

[ramfandan]

I haven't reviewed the schedules to see if this is possible, but it might be, to have a team get into the playoffs with a record under .500. Imagine the black eye that would be on MLB. More and more I do not like the 3rd wild card.

Don't know if any more of a black eye than other pro sports. NFL football had some years that .500 type teams 8-8 were qualifying for the playoffs while the better teams had 11-5 (back in the 16 game seasons ). While the mathematical odds are that the lower wildcard teams won't go too far in the playoffs, fans have to live with the fact that the expanded playoff system allows these mediocre teams from the regular season even have a shot.

[Ozziesfan41]

Yes, that's the Reds with the Giants and Mets just ahead of them .

Believe it or not , the Cardinals had a shot to get within 3 games of the final wildcard spot but blew their big lead with the Brewers.
The Mets, Giants, and Reds all lost tonight but so did the Cardinals .
About 83 wins may take the final wildcard spot . The Cardinals playing 11-2 would get 83 wins . Pretty laughable to think they could pull off that win streak with the way they are playing. RIght now they look at maybe a 77 -85 win season ? That would be if they finish 5-8 n the final 13 .
A winning 7-6 final 13 games would be a 79-83 final record, an exact opposite of last year's 83-79 record.

Ho estly, the only reason the wildcard spot has fallen that close is cuz we gave helsley to the mets to sabotage them. Hes now pitching mopup but contributed to like 4 losses earlier

lol no kidding. I’ve seen people complaining the cardinals should have somehow psychically known the Mets would have an epic collapse and kept maton matz and helsley. But trading helsley has contributed significantly to that collapse if cards kept him he would be hurting the cardinals and the Mets wouldn’t have collapsed as badly

[Imperial Capitalist]

I haven't reviewed the schedules to see if this is possible, but it might be, to have a team get into the playoffs with a record under .500. Imagine the black eye that would be on MLB. More and more I do not like the 3rd wild card.

Just wait until...

1. Expansion takes place, further diluting talent.
2. The playoffs grow to 14 teams/4 wild cards.

Sub-.500 playoff teams are almost a given at that point.

[Wattage]

I haven't reviewed the schedules to see if this is possible, but it might be, to have a team get into the playoffs with a record under .500. Imagine the black eye that would be on MLB. More and more I do not like the 3rd wild card.

its definitely possible but improbable. it almkst happened several times with division leaders. us in 2006, one year the nl west leader was several games below .500 as late as after the allstarbreak but the dodgers went on hot streak final 2 months.

the al central was also garbage for many years with usuaply only 1 team ending up over .500 but having stretches of the year where none were although 1 eould finally be by seasons end. i think the al westbhas had a few years like that too. The ap east clearly dominates the other 2 divisions in that league yearly. At least in the regular season

[bretto12]

Anyone who thinks just making the playoffs should be the goal is not thinking. This team should be losing all of their remaining games. In the last two drafts, we have gotten players that can be the future. Getting a top 6 draft choice is far move valuable, than sneaking into the last playoff spot. There is a future with this team if the minor league pitching stops getting injured. Add another top arm and a right handed hitting outfielder with a little power and the future is bright.
More important is the new CBA. Put in a salary floor and a ceiling that really punishes the teams that break it, and the mid market teams will have an honest chance at a WS.

[skeezix]

MLB is in the garbage disposall of pro sports, because of its lack of appeal to the younger generation. All of these Manfred-led changes - ghost runner, limiting pickoff moves, expanding the playoffs, etc. - smacks of desperation. When the Boomers become "Field of Dreamers", the game will be in hospice care.

[freed5179]

If instead of this winless road trip they had won just a couple of games, they'd only be 2 games out of WC 3. A 5-0 trip would have had them a game clear of New York.

Instead, according to the PD, they are celebrating Second Spring (training) September and learning bittersweet lessons. What a slap in the face to the fan base who has been very good to this ownership.

[Imperial Capitalist]

If instead of this winless road trip they had won just a couple of games, they'd only be 2 games out of WC 3. A 5-0 trip would have had them a game clear of New York.

Instead, according to the PD, they are celebrating Second Spring (training) September and learning bittersweet lessons. What a slap in the face to the fan base who has been very good to this ownership.

They are calling it that???

Surely you can't be serious...

[freed5179]

If instead of this winless road trip they had won just a couple of games, they'd only be 2 games out of WC 3. A 5-0 trip would have had them a game clear of New York.

Instead, according to the PD, they are celebrating Second Spring (training) September and learning bittersweet lessons. What a slap in the face to the fan base who has been very good to this ownership.

They are calling it that???

Surely you can't be serious...

I coined it based on Goold's recent article about how they are approaching this month.

[Imperial Capitalist]

If instead of this winless road trip they had won just a couple of games, they'd only be 2 games out of WC 3. A 5-0 trip would have had them a game clear of New York.

Instead, according to the PD, they are celebrating Second Spring (training) September and learning bittersweet lessons. What a slap in the face to the fan base who has been very good to this ownership.

They are calling it that???

Surely you can't be serious...

I coined it based on Goold's recent article about how they are approaching this month.

If they end up ~ 2 games out of the playoffs, that will be an interesting "sell" to the fan base, especially considering they love to plant the notion of "anything can happen" if we just get there.

Otoh, who am I kidding? Nobody in STL media would dare revisit the subject in a press conference setting.

[BrummerStealsHome]

Yes, that's the Reds with the Giants and Mets just ahead of them .

Believe it or not , the Cardinals had a shot to get within 3 games of the final wildcard spot but blew their big lead with the Brewers.
The Mets, Giants, and Reds all lost tonight but so did the Cardinals .
About 83 wins may take the final wildcard spot . The Cardinals playing 11-2 would get 83 wins . Pretty laughable to think they could pull off that win streak with the way they are playing. RIght now they look at maybe a 77 -85 win season ? That would be if they finish 5-8 n the final 13 .
A winning 7-6 final 13 games would be a 79-83 final record, an exact opposite of last year's 83-79 record.

I opened up my MLB app on Thursday, which come up to a page with links to Cardinals news. I was surprised to see a headline which read something to the effect of the Cardinals surging in the wildcard race. This was an offday article written after a sweep by the Mariners, for cryin' out loud. The gist of the article was that the Mets collapse increased the chances for the Cards to make the wildcard. I don't know in what alternative universe that made sense.