United Hebrew’s Cantor Ron Eichaker has seen Major League Baseball’s National League Central Division from many perspectives.

He grew up in Chicago, his kids were born in Milwaukee and he lives in St. Louis. When it comes to the 2011 playoffs, however, Eichaker believes that the Brewers are going to make it, and pitching is the reason.

“When it comes to relief pitching, it is a toss-up between the Cardinals and Brewers. But when it comes to starting pitching, the Brewers have a slightly better advantage,” Eichaker said.

But a late surge by the Cards has taken the virtually impossible to merely the highly improbable. As the regular season heads into its final weeks, all-stars Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina, along with a surging Albert Pujols and improvement in relief pitching and overall team health, could see the Cards pulling past the Atlanta Braves (for the wild card spot) or Brewers and making it into the postseason.

The 2011 St. Louis Cardinals season has been a bumpy ride, beset by injuries and inconsistent pitching.

Starters Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Jake Westbrook, Kyle Lohse and Kyle McClellan performed admirably in the absence of injured staff ace Adam Wainwright. The team received Edwin Jackson in a trade, and he took McClellan’s spot in the starting rotation, thus also helping the bullpen. Three of the Birds’ starters have earned run averages of under 4.00 and even Jake Westbrook – the Cards starting pitcher with the highest ERA – is under 5.00.

The relievers have been a mixed lot, both from a health and performance perspective. After releasing Ryan Franklin, the team developed a solid closer in Fernando Salas, but he has given way in that role in recent days to Jason Motte. The relievers are now slotted into more consistent roles, and they are contributing to the end-of-season stretch run.

The biggest issue this year has been the disabled list. For a shot at the playoffs, it’s crucial that the entire team stays healthy, but 12 players have been on the DL at some point this season. The biggest loss was starting pitcher Wainwright, who had Tommy John surgery on his elbow before the season started, bringing former reliever McClellan into the starting rotation. Promising young reliever Eduardo Sanchez has also been sidelined, which for a good while caused chaos in the bullpen.

On the hitting side, third baseman David Freese was also on the DL for a major portion of the year, but luckily his stand-in, Daniel Descalso, proved to be a reliable utility infielder, and Frese has now returned and been very productive. And Pujols was also on the DL with a fractured bone from a collision at first base, but a projection of four to six weeks out luckily turned out to be only two.

Some late-season trades have also contributed to recent optimism. Center fielder Colby Rasmus was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for starting pitcher Jackson, left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski and right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel (both of whom have contributed strongly) and outfielder Corey Patterson. The team also traded a minor league outfielder to the Los Angeles Dodgers for shortstop Rafael Furcal. Ryan Theriot struggled with defense and Furcal has definitely shored up the middle infield.

Still, in the playoffs, whoever makes it in, pitching rules. Eichaker said that the team that wins the World Series is the team with the best pitching staff, which he believes this year is the Philadelphia Phillies. The Brewers are strong too, and have Zack Greinke, a starter with ace-quality stuff, but as a former Kansas City Royal has not previously been on a winning team.

And if the Cards don’t make it, well, there’s always next year.