Springfield, MO – The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that Cardinals 1B Matt Adams will join the Springfield Cardinals on a rehab assignment this Friday through Sunday.

Springfield hosts the Tulsa Drillers at Hammons Field on Saturday and Sunday, both starting at 6:09 p.m. Click below to get your tickets right now.

Adams, 24, started the 2013 season in St. Louis and is hitting .542 (13-for-24) with three home runs and eight RBIs through eight games with the Cardinals. The Philipsburg, PA native made his Major League debut on May 20, 2012 and appeared in 27 games with the Cardinals last year.

Adams spent the entire 2011 season with the Springfield Cardinals, compiling a .300 batting average with 32 home runs and 101 RBIs through 115 games en route to being named the 2011 Texas League Player of the Year. He was originally selected by St. Louis in the 23rd round of the 2009 June Draft out of Slippery Rock University (PA).

The St. Louis Cardinals have gone through a 15-game stretch when they’ve scored more than three runs just five times, yet they’ve won eight of those games. So despite near panic that the lineup has forgotten how to hit, the team is still winning ballgames mostly because the starting pitchers have been terrific to start the season.

The starting rotation likely won’t continue to pitch with a historically low 2.15 earned-run average, which was the fourth-lowest starters ERA for April in franchise history, but there are several reasons to believe the offense will start scoring many more runs on a consistent basis.

Third baseman David Freese is currently in a horrible slump, hitting just .163 with no homeruns and three RBIs, and centerfielder Jon Jay is hitting .213 with two homeruns and eight RBIs. Those sound like great numbers compared to Freese, but the Cardinals need at least average production from both of those spots to contend in the National League Central Division.

The other aspect of this situation is the Cardinals’ opponents. The Cardinals have faced arguably four of the six toughest non-divisional opponents in April, the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals, and every NL Central team they’ve played has a winning record.

This isn’t going to be an easy season no matter how well the Cardinals play. Sure, the Cardinals could have four or five more wins already if the bullpen hadn’t been horrible to start the season, but chances are slim the Cardinals are going to go on any long winning streaks this season. The competition is just too good.

The Pittsburgh Pirates took two of three games from the Cardinals last weekend as A.J. Burnett threw another quality start Saturday, and rookie Jeff Locke shut them down Sunday (which isn’t surprising given the Cardinals typical struggles against left-handed pitchers, especially ones they haven’t faced before).

Then the Cincinnati Reds visited Busch Stadium for a very well-pitched series in which Reds starter Homer Bailey was the only starting pitcher to give up more than two runs in the three-game series when the Cardinals scored four against him Wednesday.

Those types of games are unquestionably difficult to watch when the Cardinals lose, but they are well-played games nonetheless. The offense does need to produce more runs, but good pitching has always beaten good hitting, and thankfully the Cardinals have good pitching.

Also, several Cardinals hitters are unlikely to stay stuck in their slumps.

Freese and Jay have proven throughout their careers they are good hitters who can make significant contributions to a lineup. Freese has a career .290 batting average, including his poor start to the 2013 season, and Jay is a career .294 hitter who has shown recent signs of life at the plate with three hits in a recent series against the Pirates.

Plus, the Cardinals schedule lightens up a bit in May. They will face the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and San Diego Padres, which are already a combined 17 games under .500, for nine games in the next month. By comparison, the Cardinals’ April opponents are a combined 10 games over .500 as they head into May.

So although it’s easy to look at the winnable games the Cardinals lost in May, they should win more of those types of games this month because the schedule will be a little easier and, based on career averages, the offense should begin to produce more runs, especially against teams with weaker pitching staffs.

That all sets up what could be a fun month of baseball so long as the Cardinals avoid injuries, which isn’t a guarantee. This is the point in the season when they lost Allen Craig, Lance Berkman and Matt Carpenter to injuries for extended time in 2012.

The NL Central is too good this season for the Cardinals to jump out to a large lead, but St. Louis fans should be confident their team will still be at or near the top of the division by the time the calendar turns to June.

When the St. Louis Cardinals waged their annual war with injuries last season as Allen Craig and Lance Berkman went on the disabled list within weeks of each other in May, the Cardinals needed a replacement, and their first choice was minor leaguer Matt Adams.

Adams looked the part. He’s 6-foot-3-inches tall, weighs 260 pounds and hit 82 homeruns in his four years in the minor leagues while compiling a .318 batting average. But that wasn’t the player who showed up in the Cardinals lineup in 2012. Adams hit .244 with two homeruns and 13 RBIs in his 27-game stay with the big-league club.

So where was this power potential that made him the Cardinals first choice to fill-in while two players with power bats sat on the disabled list? Apparently it had left Adams’ right elbow.

Adams and the Cardinals didn’t know it at the time, but he had been hampered by a bone spur in his elbow and eventually had surgery to repair it last season after the Cardinals sent him back to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.

And it turns out that injury made a huge difference because the 2013 version of Adams is much more in line with the stories of his powerful approach to hitting and why the Cardinals considered him a top prospect..

Adams crushed the ball throughout spring training. He hit three homeruns and led the team with 17 RBIs in 28 games. He has carried that success into the regular season so far, and at times carried the team.

He got the Cardinals their first extra-base hit of the three-game series last weekend against the San Francisco Giants when he hit a two-run, ground-rule double into right-centerfield in the fourth inning Sunday against Giants ace Matt Cain. He also carried his hot bat into the Cardinals first home series of the season, a three-game set with the division-rival Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals trailed the Reds 1-0 in the sixth inning Tuesday against Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, who to that point in the game had not allowed a hitter to reach base. But Adams, who entered the game as a pinch hitter, waited on one of Arroyo’s trademark slow breaking balls and crushed it into the rightfield seats for a two-run homer.

Then he did the same thing in the sixth inning Wednesday against Reds pitcher Homer Bailey as the Cardinals cruised to a 10-0 win behind a stellar complete-game performance by starter Jake Westbrook.

Adams is in such a groove right now he has the look of a hitter who could hit almost any pitch out of the ballpark. He is getting healthy cuts on pitches he misses, and most of his foul balls have been smashed into the seats down the rightfield line.

That’s the type of hitter the Cardinals management saw in the minor leagues, and it’s the type of hitter who will likely play a very important role for the team throughout the season.

Craig is still the starting first baseman, and he is in no danger of losing that job. But Craig will also have to play rightfield on a fairly regular basis to give 35-year-old Carlos Beltran enough days off to make it through the season, and that could give Adams enough opportunities to be a large part of the Cardinals offense this season.

Even if he is primarily used in a bench role, it’s always nice to have a player who’s hitting over .600 ready to take an important at-bat late in a ballgame.

Sure, Adams won’t continue to hit .600 or better throughout the season, but the Cardinals now have a power hitter who can change the tone of a game immediately.

The Cardinals thought Adams could provide that aspect of the game when he came up in 2012. Now they know he can in 2013.

A deer, supposedly without a red nose, nearly ruined Christmas for David Freese, the St. Louis Cardinals and their fans.

Freese crashed into a tree Friday afternoon near St. Louis after he swerved to avoid a deer on the road. Folks in the St. Louis area know how prevalent deer are in the area, especially during this time of the year, and many probably know someone who has hit a deer or have hit one themselves.

Freese was uninjured in the crash, which gives the Cardinals another blessing to be thankful for in the days following Thanksgiving. Freese has been one of the stars of the Cardinals lineup the past two seasons, particularly in the playoffs.

Freese hit .297 with 10 homeruns and 55 RBIs in 97 games during the 2011 season as he battled back from a broken hand he suffered by a hit-by-pitch in May against the Atlanta Braves. He came back strong and was the Cardinals hero in the postseason, where he hit .390 with five homers and 21 RBIs, the last number being a postseason record.

In 2012, Freese hit .293 with 20 homeruns and 79 RBIs, and he played in 144 games, the first season he hadn’t been hampered by injuries.

Those numbers would figure to only increase as he grows into his role as the Cardinals’ everyday third baseman, but that all could’ve been quickly dismissed if the results of his car wreck hadn’t been so positive. Thankfully, the only thing hurt in the crash was his black 2011 Range Rover. Maybe that could give hime reason to ask for a few more dollars in his arbitration hearings this offseason. (Don’t overreact folks, it’s a joke.)

While Freese’s health is certainly the most important element of this situation, the crash could’ve had a significant impact on the Cardinals offseason and 2013 plans if Freese had been hurt. All of a sudden Matt Carpenter would’ve likely been in line to be the starting third baseman instead of trying out for the second base job in spring training.

That would’ve left the Cardinals extremely thing in the middle infield positions, which have been the primary concern so far this offseason. Rafael Furcal would have to be healthy, or Pete Kozma would have to continue his amazing play from late in the 2012 season. Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso would have to platoon for another season at second base.

That’s essentially the lineup the Cardinals used to get within one win of the World Series, but many people would like to see the Cardinals bring in a free agent or trade for a player who would be considered an upgrade over the team’s current middle infielders.

Regardless of how all that would’ve worked out, Freese is OK, and that’s the most important aspect of the entire situation. He has had previous car-related incidents, including a crash in January 2009 when he injured his feet as he slid off of a ice-covered road. He’s also had three alcohol-related incidents, the most recent in 2009, but alcohol had nothing to do with Friday’s crash, just a wandering deer.

Hopefully the next time Freese sees a deer it’s attached to a sleigh on top of his house.

In a season when the St. Louis Cardinals traded a former first-round draft pick who turned out to be a bust, another first-round prospect on the verge of that same level has sparked the team in September and could push it into the playoffs.

The Cardinals selected shortstop Pete Kozma with the 18th pick in the 2007 draft. He spent the next four years tooling around the Cardinals minor league system with little success, never hitting above .258. He even got a call up to the big club in 2011 and played in 17 games, but he hit a measly .176 with one RBI. Those are the type of numbers that get people to call a first-round pick a bust.

Then came Aug. 31, 2012.

The Cardinals called up Kozma for the second time in his career the day after regular shortstop Rafeal Furcal went on the disabled list with an elbow injury. Kozma played in only five of the team’s first nine games after his call up, but he has played in all but one game since Sept. 10.

That’s because this time around he is hitting .306 with two homeruns, three triples, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored. In fact, he’s been the most productive hitter in the Cardinals lineup in September other than catcher Yadier Molina.

But, the great part of Kozma’s month is that he’s playing simply to help the team win ballgames instead of worrying about stats. He nearly single-handedly kept the Cardinals within striking distance of the Washington Nationals on Saturday night, going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. He also made a spectacular diving play at shortstop in the ninth inning.

Contrast Kozma’s performance this year with the Cardinals 2005 first-round draft pick, a middle infielder who was supposed to be the team’s starting second baseman: Tyler Greene.

People inside and outside the organization said Greene had potential to be an everyday starter, and maybe former manager Tony La Russa’s managing style didn’t mesh with Greene’s playing style. Maybe those people just didn’t want to admit the Cardinals missed on Greene.

Greene had great speed. He was caught stealing just twice and had 25 stolen bases in his four-year career with the Cardinals. But he simply couldn’t hit big-league pitching. He never hit better than .222 and was hitting .218 when the Cardinals sent him to the Houston Astros in July. He has hit .236 in 35 games for the Astros.

Perhaps the Greene experience and Kozma’s meddling minor-league numbers caused people to brace themselves and declare Kozma as the next Cardinals draft pick to wash out. That could certainly still happen. He is working under a small, albeit good, sample size.

Kozma is currently filling a role similar to the one Ronnie Belliard filled for the 2006 club. Belliard came to the Cardinals at the trading deadline from the Cleveland Indians after seven full seasons in which he hit a combined .268 and surpassed 12 homeruns in a season just once.

Belliard hit just .237 for the Cardinals during the 2006 regular season, but he came up with key hits and was a large factor in the team’s postseason success. He hit .462 in the Division Series against the San Diego Padres and made several wonderful plays at second base to save runs.

All of this could change and Kozma could go hitless the rest of the season, but the Cardinals would likely be neck-and-neck with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second wild-card spot if not for Kozma’s contributions.

This could also be a flash in the pan, Kozma’s few moments to shine before he falls back into the shadows and becomes the mediocre hitter he was in the minor leagues. But for now he’s getting key hits and playing terrific defense, and players similar to Kozma are vital to teams’ success in the postseason.

He could also have his name immortalized on the back of championship T-shirts if he helps the Cardinals pull off a fantastic ending to another baseball season.

In a by-gone era, there was a bit of a perception from the outside looking in that the Kansas City Royals were a franchise opposed to minorities.

Black pitchers were essentially unheard of in Kansas City. But John Mayberry, Hal McRae, Frank White and Amos Otis, prominent black position players in the 1970s, more than made up for it.

Hispanics, on the other hand, played almost no role with the Royals for decades. Tracing the history of Mexican-born and Latin-born Royals makes for a short story.

So to make a Royals All-Star team of Hispanic players is difficult. But in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, it’s worth a try.

The first problem was what to do with new members of the team Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar. Perez is already the greatest Hispanic catcher in team history. He has virtually no competition. But he’s not even played a full season in KC.

So for the sake of the exercise, the team will exclude current players who haven’t played at least two seasons for the Royals. And to keep it simple, the team will only include players born outside of the U.S.

Catcher: Perez will own this spot in no time. But the Royals first All Star was Puerto Rican Ellie Rodriguez. Someone had to make the All-Star Team in 1969. Why not a guy who hit just .236 with 2 homers in that inaugural season?

He gets the sentimental nod over Dominican Miguel Olivo, who hit 35 homers and had 106 RBIs while sharing the catching duties for two seasons. Olivo was probably a lot better than Rodriguez, but he never could unseat John Buck, which tells you something.

1B: Wow. Almost no options here at all. Tempting as it is to go with Orlando Cepeda based on his Cooperstown credentials, the truth is the Puerto Rican slugger did nothing in 33 games in KC, and played strictly DH.

The nod goes to… Mendy Lopez. The Dominican played a handful of games at firstbase in 2003, when he hit .277 with 3 homers.

2B: Lots of choices here, including some decent contributors like Jose Lind, Jose Offerman and Carlos Febles. But one of the most beloved Royals ever was Cuban Cookie Rojas. The diminutive, bespectacled Rojas made four trips to the All-Star Game for KC.

SS: The one position where the Royals have employed tons of Hispanics is shortstop. Alcides Escobar will claim this honor after this season. But before that there was a host of nightmarish options to choose from: Yuniesky Betancourt? Neifi Perez? Angel Berroa? Angel Salazar? Onix Concepcion?

I’ll go with Puerto Rican Rey Sanchez because he hit .294, .273, and .303 in his three seasons in KC.

3B: Two options here, which seem basically interchangeable. I’ll go with a tie: Dominican Wilson Betemit and Venezuelan Alberto Callaspo, who both hit reasonably while in KC.

Outfield: Not a lot of options here, surprisingly, so the choices are obvious. Puerto Rican Carlos Beltran is arguably the second greatest Royal in history, and has a chance to go into Cooperstown wearing a Royals cap.

Mexican Jorge Orta played four solid seasons and was a key contributor on the 1985 World Series champs. In that series, he reached first base safely (wink) on the most important play in team history.

And the third outfielder is Melky Cabrera, who rejuvenated his career in 2011. The Dominican hit .305, socked 18 homers, collected 201 hits and played solid defense in his one year in KC. Busted for PEDs in 2012, we may never know how legit those stats were, but it was a darn good season.

DH: Like it or not, Dominican Jose Guillen claims this spot. He belted 45 homers as one of the only power sources in the KC lineup from 2008 to 2010.

Starting Pitchers:

1), Hipolito Pichardo, Dominican Republic: 42-39, 4.48 ERA, 67 starts. Not many pitchers have a plus .500 win percentage recently. Pichardo has more wins than Luke Hochevar in half as many starts.

2) Bruce Chen, Panama: 35-32, 4.59 ERA. One rotten season (1-6, 5.78 ERA in 2009) sullies his otherwise solid numbers.

3) Luis Aquino, Puerto Rico: The first Hispanic pitcher to play a significant role, from 1988-92, Aquino made 55 starts over five seasons. His career mark is 22-19. He pitched in 114 games in KC.

4) Runelvys Hernandez, Dominican Republic: Hernandez was given every opportunity to succeed. But on some teams that had almost no other option, he still wore out his welcome. Hernandez posted a 25-33 mark in 78 starts before eating his way into early retirement.

5) The options are so bleak, Hernandez makes the rotation, but no one else is worthy of consideration. (Jose Rosado and D.J. Carasco are ineligible because they were born in the U.S.)

Relief Pitchers:

1) Joakim Soria, Mexico: Without a doubt the greatest Hispanic pitcher in Royals history. Soria’s160 career saves rank third in team history, and only arm injuries keep him from being one of the best relievers of his era.

2) Roberto Hernandez, Puerto Rico: The first Hispanic closer in team history. Hernandez notched 54 saves in two seasons, but was never really welcome in KC.

If minorities were discriminated against in some form or fashion in KC, hopefully that day has passed. Salvador Perez, and Alcides Escobar are getting every opportunity today, as Joakim Soria was before he was knocked out by an arm injury. The Royals have made more effort to sign Latin talent in the past few years, so hopefully more Hispanic players will bolster the current youth movement.

But as can be seen by this “All-Star Team,” the number of Hispanic stars in KC’s history is shockingly small. Not much history to celebrate in National Hispanic Heritage Month.

While much of the National League Most Valuable Player talk has shifted out West to campaign for San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, the catcher who should receive that award is in St. Louis.

No discussion about the NL MVP award should leave out Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, but most breakdowns of the MVP frontrunners inexplicably don’t include Molina.

For years, people could point to Molina’s offensive numbers as a way to keep him out of an award that honors what a player does at the plate much more than what he does with his glove. But this year Molina is hitting a career-best .332 with 19 homeruns, 66 RBIs and even 11 stolen bases heading into play Saturday. Each of those numbers is already a career-high, and there is still nearly 20 games left in the season.

Despite Molina’s numbers, Posey still surpasses him in every category except stolen bases. Posey would be a solid choice for MVP. His return to the Giants this year after missing most of 2011 after a horrific collision at the plate has made the Giants a better team. But Molina’s skills beyond the stat sheet should give him the edge.

Molina’s defense has always been his hallmark trait. He already has four Gold Gloves and has caught 47 percent of baserunners this year, which is substantially better than Posey’s 29 percent rate. But Molina has also allowed just 33 stolen bases compared to Posey’s 80. Baserunners don’t often steal against Molina because he has such a strong reputation as a great throwing catcher, a reputation that is well-earned. Molina also has a wins-above-replacement of 6.3 compared to Posey’s 6.0.

Molina is a force behind the plate with just his presence. When Albert Pujols left in the offseason to join the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Molina stepped in as the unquestioned leader of the team. Sure, Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Matt Holliday are also team leaders, but Molina is the drive-train that has carried the Cardinals through the 2012 season.

Interestingly, Holliday is getting more MVP attention than Molina. Holliday is hitting .298 with 27 homers and 96 RBIs. Those are certainly impressive numbers, but they don’t stand out so much that he should be considered the best, or most important, player in the league this year. Holliday is an offensive force, but Molina is the complete package. There hasn’t been an area of the game Molina hasn’t excelled in this year.

Need to catch a baserunner? Molina has thrown out 29 this year. Need the pitcher to drop a pitch in the dirt with two strikes? Molina has just four passed balls. Need a hit in a clutch situation? Molina is hitting .337 with runners in scoring position. He has also played in 123 games, the fifth-most on the team.

He will also defend the plate even if it means getting hit by a truck. Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison mowed down Molina in the second inning of a game Aug. 28. Amazingly, Molina held onto the ball for the out. He had to come out of the game, but he was back in the lineup after missing just one game.

That’s not to say Posey isn’t as tough because he no longer blocks the plate. Posey’s ankle was destroyed in a collision early last season, and it would be stupid to ask him to risk another similar injury because he is an important part of the team.

The National League has other worthy candidates outside Posey and Molina. Pirates centerfielder Andrew McCutchen is having a great season, as is Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder Ryan Braun. But, neither of those players play fantastic defense, and their position is not nearly as demanding defensively.

Many MVP races are decided by which team makes the postseason, but for some reason Posey is much more likely to win the award even if the Giants and Cardinals both make the playoffs. Maybe there is still a stigma against Molina’s hitting abilities.

Molina doesn’t play for a bad team, but voters have already shown they will vote for the best player regardless of the team’s record. They gave the Cy Young award to Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez in 2010 even though he went 13-12 and the team had a 61-101 record.

In any case, Molina is a deserving candidate for this year’s NL MVP award. Now it’s up to the voters to recognize his brilliance includes more than a golden glove.

The Royals still have some things to play for.

Can the Royals still win the Central Division? Good sense would tell you it’s not worth checking the standings.

Could they somehow win a wildcard spot? Even less of a chance.

How about finishing .500? It would take a historic tear for that to happen.

So is there any number of wins worth rooting for? Any standard for the team to try to reach?

Well, while most critics bemoan the typical strong finish to an abysmal season, there are a couple of numbers worth watching.

(Now before you start accusing me of being part of the problem, accepting bad baseball, let me state that I hate losing, and I hate not being in a real pennant race. But there’s nothing I can do about it, and it’s fun to play with numbers, even when they’re losing numbers)

Here’s what the Royals still have to shoot for:

70-92: Since 1996, the Royals have only finished on the plus-side of 70 wins five times. Let’s hear it for small victories.
72-90: One win better than 2011. Not worth celebrating.
74-88: Good enough last year for 19^th place of the 30 major league teams. Out of the bottom 10, into the middle third of the league.
75-87: The most wins by a Royals team since 2003 – matching the record of the 2008 team.
76-86: The Royals fell to 11 games under .500 on April 24 when a 12-game losing streak plunged them to 3-14. If the Royals can reach 76 wins, it will mean they’ve played better than .500 baseball since that dismal date. This is the number I’m most intrigued by.
3^rd: The Royals haven’t finished third in the Central Division since 2003.

How about some individual standards to shoot for?

100: The number of RBIs Billy Butler will likely exceed. No Royal has reached this mark since Carlos Beltran did it in 2003.
54: Alex Gordon could reach this record – Hal McRae’s number of doubles, set in 1977.
13: If Bruce Chen could reach 13 wins, he would top his team-leading mark of 12 from both 2010 and 2011. He would tie his best-ever win total, which he notched with Baltimore in 2005. And he would finish above .500, barring he records no more losses. It will be tough, as Chen can only squeeze in a few more starts this season.

Ok, so these would all be very hollow victories, I admit. There are only a few numbers KC fans should care about – 1^st in the division, 1^st in the league, and 1^st in the game.

But for the time being, some other numbers are worth pulling for.

The St. Louis Cardinals knew they had an old team heading into the 2012 season, and injuries or players wearing down in the course of the regular season were the team’s most likely downfall. The Cardinals have sustained injuries throughout the season, but now fatigue is doing its best to take down the team

Shortstop Rafeal Furcal tore a ligament in his right elbow Aug. 30 in Washington after dealing with back problems for weeks, outfielder Matt Holliday was sidelined much of the last week with a sore back and outfielder Carlos Beltran has flat out stopped hitting.

Beltran had been among the league leaders in homeruns and RBIs for much of the season, but he has hit .165 in the last month with two homeruns and eight RBIs. He is now fifth in the National League with 28 homeruns, 10 behind leader Ryan Braun, and eighth in RBIs with 86.

Maybe Beltran’s knee is causing him more serious issues than he lets on, but either way the Cardinals have lost a very important bat in the middle of their lineup. With Beltran’s slump, Holliday’s back problems and Berkman trying to come back from a stay on the disabled list, the Cardinals no longer have a scary heart of the order.

Unfortunately, these issues couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Cardinals were able to survive early season injuries to Berkman, Allen Craig, Skip Schumaker and Matt Carpenter without losing too much ground in the standings.

That likely won’t be possible now. The Cincinnati Reds are running away with the National League Central Division and could be headed to 100 wins. The Cardinals still hold the second wild-card spot, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates remain well within striking distance. Both teams were 1.5 games behind the Cardinals heading into play Saturday.

Manager Mike Matheny could be an easy target for a team that is wearing out near the end of the season, but there isn’t much he could do about these issues. He made sure starters got days off often at the beginning of the season, and he actually received criticism for not playing his best lineup often enough. The problem is the team just wasn’t built with much room for injuries and fatigue.

The Cardinals Opening Day lineup featured six players who are now 30 years or older. A team that old has to receive a fair amount of luck to make it through an entire season without dealing with many injury problems.

The Cardinals certainly haven’t received much luck in that department, but it also shouldn’t surprise everyone when the offense struggles. Sure, a team that leads the league in hitting shouldn’t go four straight games without scoring an earned run, as the Cardinals did Aug. 28-31 against the Pirates and Nationals, but it would also be unrealistic to think the offense would continue to churn out five or more runs a game nearly every night.

Despite the recent struggles, life is still pretty good for the Cardinals. They entered play Saturday in the second wild-card spot and 4.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the top wild-card position.

Plus, the upcoming schedule is favorable. The Cardinals have just four of their next 18 games against teams with a winning record, although all but five of those games are on the road. Still, this upcoming stretch might give the Cardinals a chance to get well for a final push toward the playoffs. They are going to need it.

(Editor’s note: All stats used in this piece are as of Monday, 8/27)

This past offseason, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig expanded the playoff system. Two wild card berths were added, one to each league. A single elimination game would be played to determine the Wild Card winner. The current standings are like this:

Atlanta 73-55 (home field advantage for playoff)

San Francisco 71-57* (lead NL West by 1 game over LA Dodgers)

St. Louis 70-57

LA Dodgers 69-59* (1.5 back of STL, 1 game back of San Francisco in NL West)

Pittsburgh 68-59 (2 back of STL)

Arizona 64-64 (6.5 back of STL)

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It’s safe to say that Arizona is likely out of playoff contention, barring anything dramatic and unusual. The Wild Card will be a five-team race, and an exciting one at that. We’ll begin the preview with our own St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals took 2 of 3 from Cincinnati this past weekend, and gained a game in the NL Central. Still, the Reds hold a 6 game lead in the Central and should be able to maintain that lead through the rest of the regular season. If St. Louis can maintain their offensive production, they should have an advantage at maintaining a spot for Game 163. It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals’ rotation will play out, with Joe Kelly pitching in Lance Lynn‘s rotation spot for the time being. September’s expanded rosters may help the Cardinals in their quest.

The Cards have the toughest remaining schedule of any Wild Card contender. They have five series against teams with records above the .500 mark, three of which are against division leading teams (two against Washington, one against Cincinnati).

Cardinals fans will likely remain nervous from now until playoff time, and have good reason to be that way. Everything will have to be clicking for the Redbirds. They cannot afford to give many games away. It can be done, but they have a tough hill to climb to get there.

Remaining games vs WC teams: at PIT (Aug 28 & 29) at LA (Sept 13-16)

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers, in pursuit of the playoffs, may have just become the biggest threat to the Redbirds” Wild Card hopes.

A nine-player trade took place between the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox on Saturday. Boston sent Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto to LA, while the Sox received James Loney and four prospects. For the Red Sox, the trade was a salary dump and concession for the 2012 season. For LA, the trade showed that the Dodgers are serious about the playoffs, and the near future, under their new ownership. The trade could turn out to be much like the Cardinals trading Colby Rasmus to Toronto last season, and we all know how that turned out for St. Louis.

The Cardinals, Nationals and Reds are the only non-division opponents that the Dodgers face in the rest of the regular season. Washington and Cincinnati have the upper hand in their respective divisions (4 1/2 and 6 games respectively). Of the Wild Card contenders, Los Angeles may be the toughest opposition St. Louis has for the next month and a half. The Dodgers’ dangerous pitching and newly-revamped offense, combined with the easy schedule, should strike fear in their opponents and give LA an edge in the race.

Remaining games vs WC teams: at SF (Sept 7-9), vs STL (Sept 13-16), vs SF (Oct 1-3)

San Francisco Giants

Tim Lincecum has been a huge disappointment in the otherwise stellar season so far for San Fran. The PED-suspension of Melky Cabrera will certainly hurt the Giants’ chances at an NL West title. Despite these events, the Giants have been able to hold a slight division lead on the Dodgers. The only non-division opponents remaining on the schedule for the Giants are the Astros and Cubs. The NL West is pretty much a two-team race between the Dodgers and Giants. The advantage, at least on paper, goes to LA because of the trade boost. The battle for the West (and subsequent Wild Card spot) should go down to the final days of the regular season, but don’t be surprised if LA runs away to a division title before then.

Remaining games vs WC teams: vs LAD (Sept 7-9), at LAD (Oct 1-3)

Pittsburgh Pirates

Other than St. Louis, the Pirates have just three series left with teams that have winning records (two with Cincinnati, one with Atlanta – one Reds series and the Braves series at home). The Pirates are much better at home than on the road (38-25/30-34). Pittsburgh’s contention will depend on their pitching, which has been a major plus for them in 2012. Led by James McDonald and AJ Burnett, the Bucs’ rotation has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. Barring a late season collapse or injuries, Pittsburgh should remain in the three-team race for Wild Card spot number two.

Remaining games vs WC teams: vs STL (Aug 28 & 29), vs ATL (Oct 1-3)

Atlanta Braves (current leader of first Wild Card spot, 2.5 games ahead of Cardinals for position)

The Braves have a big strength of schedule in the remainder of the regular season.  Thanks to a weak NL East, Atlanta faces only two opponents with winning records, Washington and Pittsburgh. It would take a Braves slump and Cardinals surge for St. Louis to take the number one spot and home field for Game 163. It happened in 2011, but given the schedule and sure-thing Braves pitching staff, don’t expect history to repeat itself. Atlanta should be hosting Game 163 in October. The only question they should have is who they will be facing on that day.

Remaining games vs WC teams: at PIT (Oct 1-3)

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The 2012 Wild Card race will be exciting to watch. It won’t quite have the excitement of the 2011 Wild Card, but the first year with the new system won’t disappoint. Expect some good baseball in the season’s last month and a half!