MLB Writer Predicts Cardinals Could Play Spoiler Down The Stretch

The St. Louis Cardinals have fallen to 61-64 on the season and are essentially out of postseason contention after being swept at home by the New York Yankees. They are five games out in the National League Wild Card race and 18 back of the surging Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. One could certainly make the case that 2025 is a lost cause for the Cardinals.

At the trade deadline, they shipped out rental relievers Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton and Steven Matz and sent them to contending teams. They have seemingly finally embraced a rebuild, one that will be headed up by future president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who will take over for John Mozeliak at season's end.

But even though the Cardinals are out of contention, there might still be something worth looking forward to as the 2025 season winds down. Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter believes the Cardinals could still be an interesting team to watch down the stretch, albeit for different reasons.

MLB Writer Predicts Cardinals Could Play Spoiler In September

"After selling at the trade deadline, it was only a matter of time before the Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals started to slip out of wild-card contention, though they are still capable of playing spoiler," Reuter predicted on Monday.

The Cardinals have a tough schedule in the month of September. They match up twice with the Milwaukee Brewers and will face the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs. All four of those teams are postseason hopefuls, and three of the four teams essentially have a spot in the postseason locked up as September nears.

But instead of folding and being kicked around by those teams, it would be interesting to see the Cardinals put up a fight and try and play the role of spoiler down the stretch. Even with the postseason seemingly out of reach, there is still something left to play for.

The Cardinals still can impact the playoff race, even if they don't factor into the picture in any way. They are at risk of having their second losing season in three years, but that doesn't mean that they're going to give in and simply be a doormat for contending teams.

They'll be highly motivated to at least impact the playoff race in some way, and it will be interesting to see what they do in the next few weeks.