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

Figure out how to get full use out of their bench

With the club slated to play 28 games in 29 days, how they go about using their bench unit is going to matter even more than it has over the last few months, and it starts with making sure they have the right configuration in order.

First off, the Cardinals are carrying three catchers on the roster in Pedro Pages, Yohel Pozo, and Ivan Herrera. Herrera is slated to play about once or twice a week behind the plate, Pages catches most of the other games, and for now, Pozo has been the primary catcher for Matthew Liberatore.

I won't say, at least as of today, that the three-catcher model cannot sustain during this stretch, but it certainly makes it more difficult to maximize the bench, so the Cardinals could benefit from optioning Pozo or Pages to add a different player to the mix.

Ryan Vilade is on the roster in Jordan Walker's absence, so I imagine when Walker returns here in under a week, Vilade will be optioned back to Memphis, and the Cardinals' bench unit will consist of one of Walker or Burleson depending on the day, Gorman, Pozo, and Jose Barrero.

If reconfiguring their bench unit and recalling one or two of Thomas Saggese, Michael Siani, or Luken Baker is part of the fix, then so be it. But if this is the unit they are going to run with (barring injury), then they'll have to actually use those guys, or their regulars may get burned out over the next month of baseball.