6 difficult roster decisions the St. Louis Cardinals must address ASAP

2. The Cardinals need to find an impactful right-handed bat for their bench

Everyone knows the Cardinals' bench is not in a good place right now. Mozeliak knows it, manager Oliver Marmol knows it, and fans have been shouting it for weeks now. When the Cardinals are healthy, their position-player depth is a major strength, but right now, the bats are few and far between.

Right now, the Cardinals are looking at a bench that consists of Matt Carpenter, Brandon Crawford, Jose Fermin, and Pedro Pages. Late in games, the Cardinals don't really have guys they can bring in off the bench to present matchup problems for opposing bullpens, which allows opposing managers to script the late innings to their own liking.

Frankly, the club's lineup is just weakened in general right now, even aside from the lack of bench bats. One of Carpenter or Dylan Carlson must start every day alongside Michael Sinai, meaning their 8th and 9th spots in the order are just non-factors for the most part offensively. Not to mention the struggles of their corner infielders at the plate, the Cardinals need a boost in offensive production.

Mozeliak recently named the need for a right-handed bat who could play some center field, and there are some intriguing options out there. A reunion with Harrison Bader could help stabilize things, but I'd argue that former Cardinal Tommy Pham would be the more ideal move. There will be other options available for the Cardinals at the deadline, but they could really use that boost here now.

Tommy Edman could certainly provide some of that upon his return. He's not a masher by any means, but upgrading the offense they are getting from center field to league-average production would be a welcomed boost. Willson Contreras appears to be ready here soon as well, which is a massive upgrade as well. Maybe even Jordan Walker can get things going in Memphis and make an impact before the end of the month.

I do think the Cardinals end up needing to pull the trigger on a move for another bat though, so why wait? The upgrade would be most beneficial now anyway, and if you are already planning on making that move, why wait for it to be less needed?