Cardinals: Nolan Gorman's back tightness reveals major flaw with current roster

Having to use Taylor Motter as a pinch hitter for Nolan Gorman shows why the Cardinals need more value from their 13th position player spot

The St. Louis Cardinals ran into a predicament in the sixth inning of their series finale against the Los Angeles Angels, as they had to pinch-hit Taylor Motter for slugger Nolan Gorman after he had some back tightness flair up.

After starting the game down 10-2, they came clawing back throughout the game but took a major hit to their lineup when Gorman had to come out of the game. Motter doesn't play for the Cardinals and is just not a good option for their roster.

If the Cardinals were playing well and not sporting one of the worst records in baseball, they could afford to have a guy like Motter sitting on their bench every day to provide more playing time for other players. But right now, they need all of the help they can get, and there are guys in Memphis who can provide that.

Juan Yepez is an obvious candidate for this, but even someone like Luken Baker could provide tremendous value in place of Taylor Motter. The Cardinals need to maximize every single opportunity on the field right now, even if that means having a guy on the roster who they'd love to be playing more but just don't have time for. A player like Yepez could honestly be playing a lot over someone like Tyler O'Neill right now, but even if they viewed Yepez or Baker as the last player on the bench, that would help them tremendously as they look to try and salvage wins.