Memphis starting option may soon become Cardinals bullpen workhorse

The St. Louis Cardinals have faltered out of the All-Star break and wasted all positive momentum given to the team from Jordan Walker's historic Home Run Derby. Armed with good vibes into the season's second half, the Cardinals have fallen flat since the Midsummer Classic, dropping two series against teams below them in the standings before series against NL Central opponents. As the season hangs in the balance, changes may be coming to the big league roster in different ways, mainly with the relief corps undergoing an overhaul.

In their embarrassing losses to the Diamondbacks and Angels, manager Oli Marmol saw his normally decent bullpen arms blow multiple games including an early 7-0 lead against Arizona and losing on a walk-off hit by pitch against LA. It is not surprising that the part of the roster Chaim Bloom ignored this offseason, the bullpen, is the culprit for the Cardinals' freefall out of the final Wild Card spot. Now, with the trade deadline near and JoJo Romero on the shelf, the Cardinals may turn to Brycen Mautz to stabilize the lefty options out of the bullpen.

Lefty Brycen Mautz has been working in relief in the Cardinals minor leagues

In May, the overworked Cardinals pitching staff went to lefty starter Brycen Mautz for some much needed support. His first major league start was wiped away by rain, but St. Louis held onto Mautz for another day to get his feet wet at the big league level. The southpaw performed well out of the bullpen, but his time on the 26-man roster was short-lived, and he had been back in Memphis working out of the rotation until recently.

Since the middle of July, Mautz has shifted from the starting rotation to the bullpen, and his first two appearances in relief have gone well. In four innings as a reliever, Mautz has given up three hits and struck out four batters without walking one, a welcomed change after walking 22 batters combined over his previous four starts. The change in role may have taken Mautz from a rotation afterthought behind Hunter Dobbins and Quinn Mathews to a priority call up when the bullpen needs some help.

That need should be coming soon if it has not already as the relief corps continued their meltdown in yet another bad loss against the Diamondbacks Thursday at Busch Stadium. After working to a 2-0 lead, starter Michael McGreevy gave up a few runs before the bullpen imploded in a 10-6 loss before a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. The already mediocre bullpen was stretched to its limits after Riley O'Brien has struggled in a closer role and JoJo Romero landed on the injured list with appendicitis. With the two go-to arms in the back of the bullpen a major question mark, Mautz should be headed back to the majors soon.

The Cardinals have made Chaim Bloom's trade deadline plan a little easier over the past week. Although the strategy was always to look towards the future, the Cardinals hanging in the postseason race caused some optimism from fans who would like to see some additions to the roster rather than trade away valuable pieces. As the playoffs are slipping through St. Louis' fingertips, we are more likely to see players like Romero, O'Brien, Ryne Stanek, and Dustin May on the move.

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