5 significant changes the Cardinals must make to get back to their winning ways

#1 - It's time for a significant roster shuffle

The Cardinals' bench is a mess right now, and their bullpen is in need of reinforcements. I believe the front office should be ready to announce a flurry of roster moves today.

Ryan Vilade has been tasked with giving the Cardinals meaningful right-handed at-bats since he was called up, and that just cannot continue for another series. Jose Barrero is rarely used by the Cardinals and is providing next to no value right now. Yohel Pozo essentially starts once every five days as Matthew Liberatore's catcher, and manager Oliver Marmol rarely uses him as a pinch hitter off the bench.

On the position player side of things, at least until Jordan Walker returns, it makes way too much sense to bring Thomas Saggese back onto this roster, especially if Brendan Donovan is going to miss a few days with his toe injury.

If the Cardinals are not going to play Lars Nootbaar in center field a bit more often, then Michael Siani may make sense to replace Barrero on the roster as well. Siani has done well in Memphis so far this year, and Victor Scott II could use some more days off.

In the Cardinals' bullpen, Chris Roycroft threw 51 pitches the last two days, so getting a fresh arm is a good idea. This time, though, the Cardinals need to make a 40-man roster move, perhaps one that involves designating Vilade for an assignment and bringing up reliever Andre Granillo.

Granillo, 25, was a 14th-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2021 and has been lighting the world on fire in Triple-A this season, posting a 1.82 ERA with 46 strikeouts in just 29.2 innings of work. Considering their bullpen woes this season, it's shocking they haven't called him up already, and with recent blown saves from Ryan Helsley over the last week, they really need to add another dynamic arm to their mix.

I'll get to the starting pitching later, and while I do not see a roster move happening this week, I do believe it's time for the Cardinals to strongly consider leaving Michael McGreevy in their rotation after his next spot start later this month, and considering demoting Andre Pallnate to Memphis until he can get things sorted out. More on that later.

All in all, I think the Cardinals could make 2-3 roster moves tomorrow that make a lot of sense. Heck, even if they wanted to just get another fresh arm for the Milwaukee series, Ryan Fernandez has looked a lot better in Memphis as of late and could be worth a call-up as well. Ultimately, shake-ups are needed for this group before they start playing tonight against the Brewers.