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“I’m looking at the schedule,� he wrote on Twitter. “I’m calling it now. The Cardinals shock everybody and are playing for a wild card spot in the last series of the season against the Cubs. Cubs-Cards last three days of the regular season could be wild.�

Well, yes, that would be a shock. The Cardinals feature a vulnerable starting pitching rotation backed by a trade-depleted bullpen.

Logic suggests these shortcomings could doom them.

On the other hand, the rebuilding Cardinals have somehow remained resilient in the face of adversity. Like manager Oliver Marmol said after Monday night’s comeback victory over the historically terrible Colorado Rockies, “We’re going to take our shot every night and we’re going to have fun doing it.�

And here another thing to consider: The other teams chasing the final National League wild card slot have issues too.

If current trends hold, an NL team hovering around .500 — or worse — could back into the bracket.

Look at what happened to the New York Mets. Two months ago they appeared to be a mortal lock to reach the playoff bracket. Now they are barely clinging to the last slot.

Their season veered off course on June 13. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were riding a six-game winning streak that day. They led the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 before falling apart.

The Mets allowed six runs in their sixth inning, lost the game 7-5, and fell into a prolonged tailspin. They lost 31 of their next 49 games to put the final wild card slot into play.

Their starting pitching, relief pitching and offense all went bad at once. Despite acquiring Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley among others ahead of the trade deadline, they could not stop losing.

Through the weekend the Mets dropped seven straight games and 11 of 12. This week they will try to stop their slide during a six-game homestand against the Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners.

“We got to go out and do it,� Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re going to keep saying it, but the bottom line is: We got to go out and do it. … I know it’s tough right now. It’s very frustrating. We’re all very frustrated, but you got to keep going. We got to keep going. Nobody said it was going to be easy.�

The Cincinnati Reds could have surged past the Mets, but they, too, have been sputtering. On Monday they lost for the fourth time in six games, 4-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies, to fall two games behind the Mets.

Despite playing their home games in the Great American Small Park, the Reds have seen their team slugging percentage sink into the basement during the second half of the season.

The Reds are 6-8 since July 27. They could get a lift on the mound, since starting pitcher Hunter Greene returns from the injured list this week and fellow starter Nick Lodolo won’t be far behind.

After posting 3.69 and 3.17 earned-run averages during the first two months of the season, the Reds saw their rotation ERA climb to 4.52 in June and 4.16 in July. So getting closer to full strength should be huge for them.

But Cincinnati’s remaining schedule is daunting, one of the toughest in the majors based on the winning percentage of their opponents.

“We know our schedule is hard,� Reds pitcher Andrew Abbott said. “We’re not making any excuses. We’ve just got to play better at the end of the day.�

The San Francisco Giants were in great shape back on July 11 with a 52-43 mark. Since then, they have gone 7-17 to fall behind the Reds and Cardinals in the chase.

Like the Cardinals, the Giants undermined their playoff quest by subtracting relievers in bailout trades ahead of the deadline. Without Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers, they could have a tough time holding leads.

Their 4-1 loss to the San Diego Padres at home Monday was their 11th in 12 games at Oracle Park. “At one point in time, this was a real home-field advantage for us,� Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Recently, that script has been flipped.�

So, yeah, wish them well the rest of the way.

Last season at this time the Cardinals were still in the playoff chase. John Mozeliak did some buying ahead of the trade deadline, adding Erick Fedde to the starting rotation and our old friend Tommy Pham to the offense.

But a stretch of seven losses in eight games from Aug. 10-20 derailed their postseason pursuit.

Can the Cardinals avoid such a late-summer swoon this year? They posted an 18-6 record in the first 24 games when Sonny Gray pitched this season, but through Monday’s victory they were 43-53 with anybody else starting.

Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante are pushing their physical boundaries during their first full seasons as starters. Miles Mikolas has struggled to sustain success in his final contract year. Rookie Michael McGreevy is learning on the fly.

Add their bullpen depletion and their lack of clutch hitting to the equation and you can see why fans may not share Wainwright’s optimism.

Then again, if the Mets keep losing, the Reds keep sputtering, and the Giants stay out of the way ...