I'd hardly consider his one decent season a basis for expectation. With the rotation they have now, I can't imagine them maintaining anything close to their current pace for much longer. If the Cubs pull their heads out of their arses, it's conceivable to me that the Cards could be 8-9 GB by the time Carp returns. Let's not forget that aside from Fuku and Sori, this is pretty darned close to as bad as we realistically could have imagined for this point in the season. Soto's been nonexistent, Fontenot hasn't hit, Bradley has been a complete non-contributor, Z hasn't been good, Lee has been bad, Aramis has been battling his back, the bullpen has been bad, Dempster has looked more like old Dempster, everyone and their cousin has been injured, and even the bench has been bad. Not that life has been perfect in STL, but everyone not named Ankiel and Greene has hit, and losing Carp seems to have made them better. I am not dismissing the Cards, but I think it's a whole lot more likely that a few of the things that have gone bad for the Cubs correct themselves than things continue like this for the Cardinals.