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

3. How much longer can the Cardinals wait for Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to heat up before bumping them to the bottom of the order?

As I addressed in the previous roster decision, the Cardinals just don't have many options right now, so it's hard to argue that the Cardinals should be bumping Goldschmidt or Arenado even further down in the order. But if their guys come back healthy soon or they were to add another bat from outside the organization, I think a real conversation needs to be had if Goldschmidt and Arenado are not hitting still.

Over his last 30 games, Goldschmidt is slashing .242/.304./.411 at the plate with just 5 home runs and 14 RBI. Things have certainly heated up over the last 15 games, but not to the point that fans should be ready to count on Goldschmidt to produce daily at the plate. Arenado has really struggled though, posting a .224/.281/.371 slash line, with his numbers being even worse in recent weeks. Once Contreras and Nootbaar are back in the lineup, it's hard to imagine a scenario where they keep both Goldschmidt and Arenado in the middle of the order without some major improvements in their play.

Should their struggles continue, I'd consider this lineup when they are back to full strength offensively...

1. SS Masyn Winn
2. RF Lars Nootbaar
3. C Willson Contreras
4. 2B Nolan Gorman
5. DH Alec Burleson
6. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
7. LF Brendan Donovan
8. 3B Nolan Arenado
9. CF Tommy Edman

Will they do that? Probably not. But by the time Nootbaar, Contreras, and Edman all return to the lineup, we'll be in the middle of July, and there will be too much season played at that point to say "They'll break out eventually". It doesn't mean they won't, but the Cardinals need to put their best bats in the best spots in the order, and both Arenado and Goldschmidt do not fit the bill as that when the club is fully healthy.

I think it's time to have serious conversations and prepare for that reality to come sooner rather than later. If either or both of them break out, then great! Have them slug in the middle of the order like they are paid to do. But if not, they should not be getting prime positioning in the lineup over names like Winn, Nootbaar, Contreras, Gorman, or Burleson.