Nationals Sweeping Cardinals Would Be an Indictment on Mike Shildt

After scoring 10 runs in the first inning of Game 5 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, leading to a series win, the St. Louis Cardinals offense has been non-existent, scoring just twice in three NLCS games against the Washington Nationals.

At this point, there's no reason to believe the Nats won't sweep the Cardinals, which would be a major indictment on manager Mike Shildt.

Nats are going to sweep this NLCS, aren’t they? Nats are so clutch. Cardinals are brutal this series. I can’t believe this is an NLCS team.
— Jon Solomon (@JonSolomonAspen) October 15, 2019

This won't be the first time a team has been swept in the postseason, but when you watch the Cardinals right now, it doesn't like they are playing loose and carefree like they should be.

Which is on the manager.

You would've thought that Shildt's profanity-laced postgame speech after Game 5 would've lit another fire under this team. Well, that certainly hasn't happened. The Redbirds don't even look like a postseason-caliber team, which I'm sure makes the Braves even more embarrassed.

Down 0-3 in the NLCS, maybe Mike Shildt needs to give another motivation speech?! @Cardinals #Cardinals
— Michael (@ChiTown2387) October 15, 2019

At the end of the day, you can make a strong argument the Nationals are just better than the Cardinals. They aren't getting the breaks in this series like they did against Atlanta, which has hurt their chances of winning even more.

However, St. Louis had a lot of momentum that Shildt hasn't been able to harness in this series. That's something that can't be overlooked.