3 Cardinals second half call-ups who can serve as trade additions of their own

The St. Louis Cardinals are in quite a weird spot as a franchise right now. They have found themselves in the middle ground between being a perennial playoff team and a rebuilding team. Given the age of their roster, they aren't set up for sustained success.

Still, John Mozeliak decided to buy at the deadline this season. Despite their additions at the trade deadline, St. Louis is going to need a few more additions this year if they want to compete down the stretch. Luckily for them, they have quite a few pieces that they could call up from their farm system.

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3. Andre Granillo, RHP, Triple-A

The biggest spot that teams add on at the deadline is typically in the bullpen. Every contending team could use bullpen arms that are better than the lower-end guys in their bullpen. It's a universal addition that most of the big buying teams will target. This season, the market for relievers was unusually expensive, so the Cardinals didn't really make a huge splash in the reliever market.

Luckily for them, they have a perfect option sitting in their own farm system: right handed pitcher Andre Granillo.

Granillo, 24, is the Cardinals 26th ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline. On the year, Granillo has thrown 44 innings, all out of the bullpen, allowing just 23 hits and 13 earned runs. To make it more impressive, eight of those 13 earned runs came in two appearances meaning he has been dominant 90+ percent of the time.

The righty has three impressive offerings and could be the perfect addition to the front end of the Cardinals bullpen. Given his dominance in Triple-A, besides two outings, he looks like a perfect fit in the big leagues. St. Louis needs to turn their second half around as soon as possible and calling Granillo up would be a good start.

2. Jordan Walker, OF, Triple-A

I know Cardinals fans have been patiently waiting for good news on their former top prospect, Jordan Walker. For a while, there really was no good news to share about him. He looked overmatched, even in Triple-A, striking out a ton and really providing no hope for a return to the big leagues this season.

But, man, has that changed recently.

Walker, 22, currently sits on a seven-game hitting streak in Triple-A. He's finally starting to show some of that power that many knew him for before his struggles began. Over his last 67 Triple-A at-bats, Walker is slashing .269/.338/.522 with over five multi-hit games. On the season, he's slashing .252/.317/.405 with seven home runs and 20 doubles.

This 22-year-old was once spoken of in the same sentence as Reds superstar Elly De La Cruz and Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz. He has a long way to go before he can reinsert himself in those kinds of NL Central conversations, but this recent turnaround certainly brings hope that he could one day do that. He may be the big spark that the Cardinals need to see their season go in the direction they want.

1. Tink Hence, RHP, Double-A

And here we are at the surprise of the list, top prospect Tink Hence. This one could go either way and I'm willing to see both sides of this decision.

The first thing to note here is that Hence, a 22-year-old right-hander, is still at the Double-A level. But the next thing to note is he's dominating those hitters. He should have received a promotion weeks ago. In 13 starts, he has a 3.20 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He's allowed 46 hits and struck out 77 batters.

The Cardinals need to win right now and with that in mind, they need to put their best pitchers on the mound as soon as humanly possible. I think Hence is one of the best five or six starters in the entire Cardinals organization. He's a dynamic arm with the potential to be an ace in a few short seasons.

The righty has an electric fastball and a spectacular changeup. He complements these two offerings with two distinct breaking balls. Hence commands all of his pitches pretty well. So, yeah, he is still in Double-A, but he's been spectacular. The Cardinals need to at least give him a chance to help them this year. He would be the electric arm that they missed out on at the deadline.