Breaking down the Cardinals' remaining schedule and their playoff hopes

That remaining schedule and underlying performance are the leading reasons for pessimism, but maybe there’s a bit of hope on the “versus lefties” front

The current reality is that the Cardinals’ efforts to return to the postseason – efforts that include a heavily fortified rotation, a remade bullpen, and impressive work leading up to the recent trade deadline – are probably going to come to grief. This is so for three reasons, none of which are easily skated around: the current standings, the schedule ahead, and the team’s underlying performance.