The Cardinals have placed star infielder Matt Carpenter on the 15-day DL with an oblique strain, the club announced. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by catcher Michael McKenry, whose contract will be purchased.
[Related: Updated Cardinals Depth Chart]
Things weren’t looking good from the moment Carpenter walked off the field clutching his side last night, as the club sent signals that there was significant concern. His timeline remains unknown, and will obviously depend upon how he progresses, but this is the sort of injury that will need to fully clear up before a player can attempt a rehab assignment.
St. Louis has now lost two huge bats from its lineup in short succession. First baseman/outfielder Brandon Moss is also out with an ankle injury. Both rate among the top 15 players in the National League by measure of wRC+ (minimum 250 plate appearances). That’s quite a bit off offense to strip out of a lineup, even if one or both can return without lengthy absences.
Fortunately for the Cards, other developments over the course of the year will help to fill the void. Aledmys Diaz has emerged as a quality option at short, while Jhonny Peralta is back (though he has been dealing with pain in his surgically-repaired thumb). Kolten Wong and Jedd Gyorko remain on hand, though neither has been particularly productive, while Matt Adams has been plenty capable at the plate at first.
The situation behind the dish is another area of concern, though, as the club recently lost Eric Fryer on waivers when it brought back reserve Bryan Pena. Now the latter has returned to the DL, leaving first-time big leaguer Alberto Rosario as the back-up to Yadier Molina. Now McKenry will help bolster that unit. He’s not well-regarded with the glove, but has shown life with the bat and owns a useful .301/.424/.569 batting line in 151 Triple-A plate appearances on the year.
What does this mean for Alberto Rosario? I thought he was going to get the call (as referenced in an earlier article) after putting in 11 years in the minors.
Rosario is up to replace Brayan Pena as the back up catcher, as Pena was placed on the DL yesterday. This is a separate transaction.
Are they going with 3 catchers then, or am I missing something?
Looks like it, if this is correct. The transactions page on the Cardinals website has not yet been updated for this move (it does have Pena/Rosario’s transaction).
Interesting to carry three considering Molina has the most innings logged behind the plate by a long, long, long shot this season (and no I’m not happy about that).
That is interesting, indeed. This article just updated to add in that there will be 3 catchers. I guess I should wait for the updates next time. lol
I don’t know anything about Rosario, but if his strength is defense, the Cards carrying 3 catchers might make some sense. My memory of McKenry as a Pirate is that’s he’s OK behind the plate except for his throwing arm, which frankly is terrible. Teams ran on him all the time. He might be more of a pinch hitter candidate.
Maybe they try McKenry at third and slide Diaz over to second? I don’t see any other reason for them to go with 3 catchers.
I think if their plan was to push Diaz to 2B it would have been done earlier in the season when Peralta returned (with Carp staying at 3B, Peralta returning to native SS, and Diaz replacing Wong at 2B).
I think they are not willing to move Diaz position-wise during this season. Perhaps during the off season he moves to 2B or 3B for next year.
Diaz was announced as the replacement for Marp on the all-star roster. I am quite surprised and pleased to hear this. I understand that the replacement was not required to be a Cardinals player, but I appreciate that Terry Collins picked a Cardinal so that the team can still be represented in the actual game. Both Oh and Diaz are deserving.
Wouldn’t mind the Rangers taking a shot at Santana. I’m surprised he has held up so well given the high number of sliders he throws. You can’t coach durability boys. We are learning that as we limp into the allstar break.
Haha wrong thread. Ironically the durability comment still applies.
Terrible job managing the roster in letting Fryer go to your division rival before the Club knew how Pena would perform. Everyone could see Pena was badly out of shape and not ready. Fryer meanwhile has made the Pirates better. Cardinals Management really dropped the ball on this one!
I’m glad to see McKenry get another shot in the bigs. He was never the best or even good really, but I always really liked him for some reason. That’s true of several Rockies though because I also loved Roberto Mejia, Chris Nelson, and Christian Friedrich. I’m sure every team’s fans have guys that they just irrationally love.
I watched McKenry play at AAA round rock this year and he was solid. I’m pretty sure he can also back up at 3rd/corner OF and 1B too if needed. The benefits of using 3 catchers
Haha, I know that feeling. Not particularly sure why I like Phil Gosselin and Rubby de la Rosa, since neither one is very good
Does anyone think the Cards GM will pick up any top tiered players before the trading deadline???