ST. LOUIS -- Seemingly every MLB season, there’s at least one team that no one sees coming, defies all computer models and manufactures a storybook run to and through the playoffs.

The Toronto Blue Jays, who went from worst to first in their division and surged to the World Series before losing a Game 7 in excruciating fashion to the dynastic Dodgers, were that team in 2025. The Cardinals, a club uncharacteristically out of the playoffs three straight seasons, hope to pull off a similar feat in 2026 while authoring a postseason return.

Call it a Blue Jays blueprint for the Redbirds.

Since 1947, the Cardinals have had stretches of at least three straight years out of the playoffs five times, including the current drought. The previous four times the franchise responded by reaching the NL

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