With the end of the 2013 regular season coming to an end, the playoffs are in the future for the St. Louis Cardinals. Baseball in October has become a theme for the Cardinals in recent years, as they’ve reached the playoffs four of the last five years.

The Cardinals have faced adversity throughout the entire year, most recently Allen Craig being sidelined with a foot injury. They lost Chris Carpenter for the year before spring training even started, and lefty Jaime Garcia went down mid-year. Though the Cardinals have suffered some injuries, they have not let it define them. With just six games remaining, the Cardinals are sitting at 91-65, second-best in the National League.

When the playoffs get underway, Manager Mike Matheny will likely move to a four-man starting rotation including Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly, and Lance Lynn. Of course those four are subject to change, but as of now those seem to be the front-runners. The bullpen has been strong and should keep it up barring any injury. As for the line-up, if Allen Craig is able to come back before the playoffs, the power hitter Matt Adams will move to the bench and become a lethal weapon late in games. As long as Matt Carpenter and Yadier Molina keep up their MVP-like season, the Cardinals should be able to score enough runs to win games against the premier pitchers in the league. I predict the Cardinals will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship series and will win in six games. From there, I predict they will face the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, but fall in seven games.