Cardinals News: Return of Lance Lynn and Steven Matz, Jordan Walker's role

The St. Louis Cardinals are in a really rough spot right now and need to maximize their roster in every area if they want even a puncher's chance of making a run at a postseason appearance.

Because of that, the Cardinals made a pretty significant roster move last week and are considering what to do with some veteran starters who are making their way back from injuries right now. While I'm not sure that any of these players are going to make a significant impact for St. Louis down the stretch, it will be interesting to see how they handle each of these situations over the coming weeks.

Lance Lynn and Steven Matz are close to returning from injury

Steven Matz has not pitched for St. Louis since April 30th and is currently making his way back from a herniated disk. This is not the first time Matz has ramped up on a rehab assignment this year, as Matz was supposed to return earlier this summer before experiencing some setbacks. Now Matz appears to be healthy and just spun 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Memphis on August 16.

Matz is set to make one more rehab appearance before St. Louis decides what to do with him, per John Denton of MLB.com. It is likely that Matz will be back on the MLB roster by next week, but it has yet to be determined whether or not that will be out of the bullpen or in the rotation. The Cardinals will have to make a corresponding 40-man roster move since Matz is currently on the 60-day injured list.

Lance Lynn was placed on the 15-day injured list on July 31 with inflammation in his right knee and is set to throw live batting practice on August 20 at Busch Stadium. It sounds like the Cardinals will not be having Lynn go on a rehab assignment, and if his live session goes well, he'll rejoin the rotation within a few days after that.

Jordan Walker's role with the Cardinals is set to remain a platoon role

When it was first announced that Jordan Walker would be recalled to the big league club last week, many thought that Walker would quickly become a staple of the everyday lineup. The Cardinals have been very vocal about wanting a young player like Walker to play every day, but it is clear that will not be the case,

Since returning on August 12, the Cardinals have played six games, and Walker has started just three of them. Manager Oliver Marmol is currently using Walker in a platoon role against left-handed pitching, which is especially odd considering Walker has been better against right-handed pitching historically.

Also of note, according to 101 ESPN's Brandon Kiley, the next ten projected starters the Cardinals are set to face are right-handed. Walker's role is already far more limited than we thought it would be, but we may not see him very often over the next week or so of baseball.