Cardinals dodge major bullet thanks to Mother Nature

The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were supposed to face off on Friday but weather forced a postponement. No one potentially benefitted from that postponement more than the Cardinals.

The Cardinals don't have a fifth starter and even on Friday Oli Marmol hadn't revealed who would take the mound for Saturday's game. That's not a question that needs answering anymore as Friday's starter, Miles Mikolas, will be in the Saturday slot now.

It gets even better for St. Louis because they were supposed to face the wheeling-and-dealing Shota Imanaga on Friday night. It turns out they won't face him at all after the Cubs decided not to push him forward to Saturday. Jameson Taillon will pitch on as planned while Imanaga will take advantage of some extra rest. He'll next trot out on Wednesday against the Brewers.

The Cardinals were going to face MLB's ERA leader and then send out cannon fodder the next night against Taillon. Now, they're avoiding Imanaga and will have Mikolas go head-to-head with a pitcher who has struggled in his last two starts.

Friday's game will be made up as part of a double-header on July 13.

Rain delay gives Cardinals more time to sort out fifth starter

Of course, dodging this bullet only counts for this weekend. It'll come back around again next week.

Steven Matz recently suffered a setback in his recovery from a back issue so the Cardinals may not have a resolution to their fifth starter conundrum for a while. They've been throwing Matthew Liberatore into the fire but they've gotten the worst of both worlds there. His three starts haven't gone particularly well and his absence from the bullpen has been noticed.

There aren't many options for Marmol though. He may have to continue rolling with Liberatore unless GM John Mozeliak brings in some help.

The Cardinals are actually in the middle of their strongest stretch of the season. They swept the Baltimore Orioles after winning back-to-back series against the Angels and Red Sox.

The winning run has put St. Louis in third place in the NL Central. The series against the Cubs could put them right back in the thick of the race for the division...or it could totally stall their momentum.