3 keys for the Cardinals to keep the good times rolling with grueling schedule ahead

The St. Louis Cardinals begin a stretch of 28 games in 29 days today, and while no one can make excuses for this club during the month of June, the Cardinals do need to be intentional about how they navigate what will be a grind of a stretch for their players.

Not only that, but the club has slowed down a bit over the last week or so on the field. I'm certainly not freaking out about that; the Cardinals weren't going to maintain a win percentage north of 70% like they had during their recent 19-8 stretch. That's a 114-win pace.

And yet, I believe that the Cardinals showed us this last month or so that expectations for them should be much higher now than they were coming into the year, assuming you did not believe this was a playoff team. It would be a pretty big disappointment now if the Cardinals did not find a way to contend this summer and when September rolls around, so having a strong June will be important to maintain that hope.

While the strength of their schedule seems to be lightening up overall this month, the grind of those games could quickly get to them if they are not careful.

Here are three keys for the Cardinals to keep the good times rolling during their grueling stretch of games in the month of June.

Bring back the six-man rotation, but this time, add Michael McGreevy to the mix

To the Cardinals' credit, their six-man rotation during the month of April appeared to accomplish the two most important things for their group of starters: Maintain their health and keep them producing at a high level. With June presenting their most difficult test of endurance yet, leaning on a six-man rotation once again makes a lot of sense.

But this time, Michael McGreevy has to be the stater inserted into the rotation, not Steven Matz.

If the Cardinals' bullpen is going to drop a man from their group once again, they cannot afford to lose Matz. On the season, Matz has posted a 2.16 ERA in 33.1 innings of work, with 14 of his 16 appearances coming out of the bullpen. Matz has been the ultimate Swiss Army knife for the Cardinals this year, performing in high-leverage spots, multi-inning relief appearances, and the occasional spot start.

The Cardinals' bullpen would be best served, as things currently stand, with him fully invested in it, not having to prepare for spot starts and being available for manager Oliver Marmol out of the bullpen less frequently, especially when the Cardinals have an excellent option waiting in the wings in Michael McGreevy.

In 10 starts for Memphis this year, McGreevy has a 3.02 ERA, covering 50.2 innings of work and striking out 54 batters in the process. He's well beyond proving himself at the minor league level these days, and the Cardinals should be looking to usher him into their rotation as soon as possible.

McGreevy pitched in one game for St. Louis this year, allowing just one hit and one walk in 5.2 innings of relief against the New York Mets. For his career, McGreevy boasts a 1.57 ERA in five big league games, and while no one should expect him to be that good over a larger sample size, he's someone the club should be eager to start games for their rotation and see what he's got in a sustained stretch.

While injuries have not paved the way for that to happen for McGreevy yet, this could be an opportune time to get him big league action for a consistent stretch. If the Cardinals were to insert him into the mix right at the first turn of the rotation this month, he'd get either four or five starts during this crazy stretch of games, and if there is still not a need for him in the rotation, they can send him back down to Triple-A one last time before he finally claims a full-time role soon.

Odds are, though, an injury will finally occur to the big league rotation, or someone could underperform and force the Cardinals' hand. But obviously, the best-case scenario is that everyone stays healthy, they all pitch well in June, and they have a complicated situation on their hands come July.