How the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup should look if they want to make a playoff push

The St. Louis Cardinals are locked and loaded for their playoff push in August and September after going out and acquiring Erick Fedde, Tommy Pham, and Shawn Armstrong at the trade deadline. Interestingly enough, hardly anything was subtracted from their Major League roster in the process, so when it comes to their starting lineups, there are a lot of similarities.

The club has had its fair share of highs and lows over the course of the season, and with a crowded NL Playoff Picture as things currently stand, the club needs to find ways to maximize its roster whenever possible and put its best foot forward every time they touch the field from here on out. For much of the season, they've given struggling players ample opportunity to get past their woes, but there is no longer time for that.

Now that August is here, it's fair to say we know a lot more about this team than we did coming into the season. Even if the club is hoping for resurgences from Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman, at this point in the season, they need to be treated like what their performances on the field have shown.

For a significant stretch of this summer, the Cardinals had to navigate players like Arenado, Goldschmidt, and Nolan Gorman slumping while bats like Willson Contreras, Lars Nootbaar, and Tommy Edman were on the injured list as well. While fans were rightfully frustrated with those slumps, there just weren't clear answers to move higher in the order or replace those struggling players. Should have have given more playing time to Dylan Carlson or Jose Fermin? Called up prospects like Jordan Walker or Thomas Sageese, who were struggling in Memphis? Probably not.

But stay tuned, as I do have them making a roster move in my preferred lineup that would definitely shake things up. Now that the club is a lot healthier and has added an impact bat in Pham, the club can get a lot more creative with its lineups.

*Note, I completed this story before news broke of Michael Siani's potential injury. That could reshape a lot of this. But I'll assume that Victor Scott II takes his place for now if needed.

Here is how I would structure the Cardinals lineup against right-handed and left-handed pitching now that the trade deadline has passed