This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. LOUIS -- After playing 19 games in 19 days, the Cardinals are enjoying a rare two-day break. How rare is it? Well, the last time the Redbirds had two scheduled days in a row off during the season -- not counting the MLB All-Star Game – was Sept. 27-28, 1978, when the Mets were forced to move up a two-game series against the Cardinals to allow for the NFL’s Jets to play at Shea Stadium under a very contentious state court order.

The Cardinals were very much in need of the time off -- both for rest and for the many decisions they must make while restructuring their roster and pitching staff before taking on the Pirates at PNC Park on Friday. Though exhausting, the 19-game stretch helped turn around the Cardinals' season as they started it with a three-game sweep at Fenway Park and went 12-7 overall. None other than right-hander Miles Mikolas, who personally won three times during that stretch, knows what the stirring play of late has done for the Cards.

“We were in a deep, dark place early in the month and we were in a ‘team meeting’ kind of place where we had to get together, assess things, and decide who we wanted to be as a team,” said Mikolas, who improved to 4-0 with a 2.11 ERA in his last nine starts with eight shutout innings on Tuesday. “We definitely turned it around, but we’ve definitely got a lot better ball to come our way.”

To ensure that happens, here are three areas for the Cardinals to address following this mini-break to gear up for the important stretch of games ahead:

Pitching staff restructuring

Jack Flaherty will open the three-game series against the Pirates on Friday, but the Cardinals have yet to announce how they will proceed past that. If they stayed on turn, Adam Wainwright would start on Saturday and Mikolas would pitch Sunday. However, the Rangers, next week’s opponent, have MLB’s third-best OPS against lefties, so the likelihood is that at least one of the Cards' lefties gets a start during the weekend series in Pittsburgh.

Manager Oliver Marmol’s big decision is whether to stick with Matthew Liberatore or give the winless Steven Matz another shot in the rotation. Matz showed an increased velocity and better swing-and-miss stuff out of the bullpen on Monday, but that’s where he should stay for now as he works to rebuild his confidence. With the Cards back in a five-man rotation, Liberatore -- the franchise’s No. 4-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- warrants a two-to-three start runway to prove whether he's got what it takes to survive at the MLB level as a starting pitcher.

Outfield options

 According to Marmol, Dylan Carlson [left ankle sprain] is close to beginning a Minor League rehab assignment where he is expected to play two to three games. Meanwhile, Tyler O'Neill [low back strain] is still “at a standstill,” according to the manager, after the outfielder was shut down from baseball activities for a third time. 

Where would the Cardinals be without utility aces Tommy Edman and Brendan Donovan in recent weeks? Edman made his first career start in center on Tuesday, while Donovan threw out Kansas City’s MJ Melendez from right field to keep the game tied -- one the Cards ultimately won 2-1.

While there’s a strong case to be made that Jordan Walker-- baseball’s top prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- belongs back in the Cards' outfield, that move doesn’t seem imminent even though the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Walker launched his fourth Triple-A homer with Memphis on Wednesday. Cardinals' Slugger Moises Gomez, who set the Cardinals Minor League record with 39 home runs last season, hit two long balls for Memphis on Wednesday night. He, too, might warrant a shot to try and help breathe life into a Cardinals offense that fell flat most of the past week.

Third catcher, the bullpen and the depth

The unrelenting schedule had a lot to do with the Cardinals struggling before their mini-break, but it didn’t help that they were playing a man down in the bullpen because of the six-man starting rotation and basically a man down among their position players with third catcher Tres Barrera on the roster. Outside of catching bullpen sessions and warming up pitchers between innings, Barrera has rarely seen the field of late, appearing in just six games and getting just two at-bats during the 19-day stretch. Three catchers on the roster isn’t a luxury the Cardinals can afford, especially when considering their precarious position following the shocking 10-24 start to the season.

Wouldn’t the Cardinals' offense be better served with a slugger such as Gomez or a dynamic talent such as Walker in play? Or how about first baseman Luken Baker, whose 16 home runs and 51 RBIs lead the International League? Those three could give the Cardinals more options at DH, especially with Nolan Gorman getting more reps at second base.