If you really think about it, all the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen had to do was hold one or two more games in the regular season and we’re watching the redbirds in October.
Is the reason the Cardinals missed the postseason for a third straight year only the bullpen’s fault? No, of course not. Would a better bullpen have beat the Boston Red Sox in the World Series? No, it wouldn’t have.
Would it have helped? You bet.
Of course, the Cardinals are missing a few things: a star bat (e.g. Bryce Harper, fingers crossed on that one), the starting rotation needs to stay healthy or they need to find more depth for when it doesn’t, a full season without Mike Matheny, a hitting coach who isn’t John Mabry, and the ownership to spend some D*** money.