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Three players the St. Louis Cardinals should promote soon
These three players need to be called up by the Cardinals soon
It's safe to say that the 2023 season has not started the way the Cardinals had envisioned. We all know that this is a good team on paper that should be winning a lot more games than they have so far. But several issues have been plaguing the team as of late.
The starting pitching has been horrendous, the bullpen has been taxed, and the offense has stagnated at certain points. Fortunately, the bats woke up on Sunday in the series finale against the Mariners thanks to a slight lineup change, which should help the Cardinals as they try and navigate these rough waters.
As always, we as fans are dreaming of the trade deadline, where we hope that the Cardinals will address some of these holes and become the World Series contender that fans all want and deserve. Alas, it's still April. Only 22 games have been played thus far, and it's far too early for trades to be made unless the circumstances are truly dire. However, there are still ways that the Cardinals can improve their team while they wait for the trade deadline to come.
As much as Cardinals fans, including myself, are tired of hearing about the team's internal options, what they have in the system could help the team tremendously if the struggles continue. And with certain players on the roster not performing up to par, it may not be long before some changes are made.
Here are three players within the Cardinals minor league system who may, and should be promoted soon.
Matthew Liberatore
The starting pitching is the most obvious area of concern. Pitchers such as Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, and Jake Woodford have grossly underperformed. But this is where Matthew Liberatore comes in. At Triple-A Memphis, the young left-hander is 3-1 in five starts with a 2.60 ERA over 27.2 innings of work. He's also only waked nine batters and allowed just 22 hits.
It's fair to question just how much longer the Cardinals can keep Liberatore down in Memphis, especially with the way things are going right now with the rotation. Before long, the Cardinals may find themselves in a deeper hole if things don't change. Adding Liberatore to the rotation would allow the Cardinals to move Woodford to the bullpen or even send him down to Memphis to get right, similarly to how they sent Andre Pallante down.
Juan Yepez
Like many, I was surprised to see that Juan Yepez didn't make the Opening Day roster. At a certain point, the Cardinals are going to have to make way for him, that is, if he isn't traded. I'm personally not ready for the Cardinals to give up on Yepez just yet. He's got too much potential and can hit for a ton of power.
It's obvious that Dylan Carlson has performed below expectations over the past few seasons. This year is no different, as he is hitting just .205 with no home runs and just three RBI. The Cardinals essentially have gone out of their way to clear spots for him and Tyler O'Neill. O'Neill is performing a little bit better as of late, but if he and Carlson continue to struggle, having them on the roster at Yepez's expense becomes problematic.
Ivan Herrera or Tres Barrera
The backup catcher issue feels like nitpicking, but it's obvious that Andrew Knizner has not performed well and that his days in a Cardinals uniform may be numbered. This is where Herrera and Barrera come into play.
The issue with Knizner has been his hitting. The Cardinals' backup catcher is hitting just .143 on the season and has never been able to get it going at the plate. Barrera had a strong spring and is producing quite well at Memphis, hitting .263 with three home runs. Herrera has also performed quite well, hitting .255 with two home runs. Herrera is also a solid defender behind home plate.
With Knizner struggling, the Cardinals could definitely use a reinforcement behind Willson Contreras.
Next. 5 bold trade ideas to save the Cardinals' season. dark