The St. Louis Cardinals are right in the thick of the divisional race with the Milwaukee Brewers. They'll have to overcome a significant handicap to keep pace in their upcoming contests against the Toronto Blue Jays with stars Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt expected to miss the two-game series due to vaccination rules.

The absence of both Arenado and Goldschmidt was relayed by Cardinals team president John Mozeliak on a Zoom call, indicating that the two All-Stars will be missing the trip to Toronto alongside catcher Austin Romine.

Via Cardinals reporter Derrick Goold:

All-Star infielders Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt and catcher Austin Romine will not make the trip to Toronto with the team due to Canada’s vaccination rules, Mozeliak tells local media on Zoom.

To say that losing Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in the middle of the order is a big loss for the Cardinals would be a massive understatement. Goldy has arguably been the best player in the National league this season, flexing both power and plate discipline with a .333 batting average while also tallying 22 home runs and 74 RBIs through 92 games.

Those numbers put him on pace to challenge his career highs in all three categories while also drawing attention to himself as an MVP favorite after finishing as a runner-up on multiple occasions.

Arenado isn't having a bad season himself, batting at just a shade under .300 with his 18 HR total combining with Goldschmidt for nearly 40 percent of the Cardinals' four-base jacks.

Not only will the St. Louis Cardinals be losing their two most lethal bats, but also their elite defense on the infield that's netted an astounding combined 13 Gold Gloves between them.