The Cardinals have placed shortstop Aledmys Diaz on the 15-day disabled list with a hairline fracture in his left thumb that was suffered on Sunday when he was hit by a pitch, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “And it will likely be longer [than 15 days],” general manager John Mozeliak made when announcing the move.
As Goold writes, initial X-rays revealed only a deep bone bruise, but the fracture was revealed upon further testing after the swelling in his hand had reduced. While the Cardinals had the diagnosis prior to Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline, Mozeliak explained to Goold that the didn’t feel pressured to dive into the trade market in search of infield depth due to the fact that Jhonny Peralta will return from the DL tonight and Matt Carpenter will return by Friday. “You’re not going to go out and find that kind of impact player and the fact that we get Jhonny Peralta activated (Tuesday) I think he can slide in right there,” said Mozeliak. “…I think we’re covered. Trying to find a middle infielder that would have had some type of impact on this roster — I think it would be hard to top.”
The Cardinals entered the year expecting to utilize Kolten Wong at second base, Peralta at shortstop and Carpenter at third base. However, a Spring Training thumb injury sidelined Peralta into June, giving Diaz a chance to establish himself in the Majors. His performance was strong enough (and Wong’s struggles were great enough) that upon Peralta’s return to health, he played third base, with Carpenter displacing Wong at second base. Now, with both Carpenter and Peralta both returning from DL stints of their own, Peralta will man shortstop while Carpenter reclaims his original spot at third base, for the time being.
Suffice it to say, the Cardinals have plenty of depth in the infield to cushion the blow of losing Diaz for a fairly sizable portion of the remainder of the season. Nonetheless, it’s a notable loss, as Diaz has been nothing short of sensational at the plate, hitting .312/.376/.518 with 14 home runs in 401 plate appearances. His defense leaves plenty to be desired (16 errors, -8 UZR, -3 DRS), but Diaz’s bat has played a major role in the Cardinals’ 56-49 record, which currently has them just a half game out of the second Wild Card spot in the National League.
Tough blow for the Cards. Hopefully he comes back strong.
A season like the Cardinals have had would spell 90 losses for most teams and they somehow are right in the thick of a WC race.
Eh, they’ve had a healthy rotation all year
A healthy rotation in which only one has been above average in run prevention, their rotation has all under performed outside of Martinez
I’m just saying, there’s been a handful of teams that have had worse injury luck. Giants and Dodgers, come to mind
TAKE AYBAR!!!!
no thanks.
Whether the Cards have plenty of depth or not, that’s a tough loss to overcome…
Aybar still available if needed. Haha
Take up payments on Aybar and you can have him, second thought we may could throw in a little to help you out, no, you can just have him
The Padres could put Alexi Ramirez through waivers hoping he gets to St. Louis, have them claim him and then work out a deal. He also has an option through next year on a cheap deal, and is a lot more appealing that Aybar. Throw the Padres a guy on the bottom of their top 30 list like Mike Mayers or Trey Nielson & call it a day.
I want nothing to do with the Padres. if you guys wouldn’t have traded Cashner to the Marlins this wouldn’t have happened. So I blame the Padres. lol 🙂
I don’t think the Cardinals want possibly the worst defensive SS in baseball Aybar is still at least barely average defensively. Ramirez is a -2 WAR player. 2017 option is meaningless to the Cardinals
As much as I’d like to dump Ramirez, the Cards don’t need him with the players they have on the roster and coming back. They’ve also Gyorko who has played very well of late. Oh, and I think Ramirez’ option is a joint one.
Diaz out Peralta in.
For all the crap Mozeliak gets as a gm this is an example of why being a cards fan is so satisfying. Hope Peralta finishes the year strong
He gets crap bc he deserves it…a change was needed this deadline and he let it pass claiming everyone want Reyes or Weaver…well of course they do but there is something called a counter offer. People were had this deadline without giving top 3 prospects so that is a bs excuse. But yes .221 Peralta coming off 2 DL stints for thumb injuries will definitely make up for Diaz production. I honestly don’t think Peralta can get much worse this year.
Was a change needed because we needed a big solution for a big problem or a little solution for a little problem? Or was a change needed because we sat and watched other teams give away their farms for rentals?
Other than Chapman or Lucroy and maybe Miller only the latter 2 would of help fix the big problem from the GM standpoint.
You still have to use the players correctly which I believe is on Matheny. Oh, by the way Mike…… Eric Fryer hit like Ted Williams this year and has a cannon for an arm so why is Yadi catching 6-7 days a week?
Zach Duke in my opinion tweaked the bullpen positively.
Your Peralta batting average sarcasm actually has me wondering how he was a cardinal all-star in 2015 and a 5.7 war player in 2013? No doubt he has been affected by his injuries this year but true cards fans (like us) only like their players if they can perform every year and every game despite their freak injuries.
As far as Mozeliak goes you might be on to something there too. Let’s bring back Jocketty so we can give away our farms for rentals so then we can maybe reach the playoffs but certainly destroy our future.
I am not by any means saving unload the farm but with the money St. Louis brings in year after year I personally believe that they should have a little better product out on the field is all. Not saying Duke won’t be good a good addition and something that was needed just would have liked an upgrade at a position that is weak, not necessarily a rental. I love the cardinals but this years team is tough to watch because you never know if they will show up half the week
I agree that St. Louis brings in a load of money every year. Where they choose to spend that money is unfortunately out of our control. It’s a business and despite our desire to have premium talent they have found a way to run a pretty sound and profitable business.
I also think it’s been tough to watch the birds this year but Im pretty sure it’s not been a lack of effort. Going along with your other point, I think the reason they have been tough to watch is because of the lack of their fundamentals. Poor base running and shady defense stand out as things to me that cards fans have always assumed wouldn’t be an issue. Defense will suffer when you don’t pay the premium for it. Although, they did pony up for Heyward this off-season and are still getting solid production in RF from Piscotty this year for about 20 million less?
Stay positive. Cards are in second place as of today and have strong chance to make the playoffs which despite the GM not making a deadline move this year has figured out how to put a playoff team together for 6 of the last 7 years.
I’m damn happy that Moz makes conservative fixes to the roster.
It’s why we are competitive every year.
I’ll never understand the Cards fans that complain about the consistently competitive team we are given.
Cardsfan1988,
You want a better product out on the field considering the money they bring in?
Have we been watching the same team?
Most wins in baseball this decade
Been to the WS twice this decade.
An incredible team last decade.
There is nothing to complain about as Cards fans.
The Cubs are good right now. They were around 03 and 08 as well. It happens. The cards are always battling another team or two in the division.
But the playoffs are a dice roll, you just want to have as many dice rolls as possible, which requires a strong farm system with plenty of depth.
Rentals were very expensive this year, and the cards have a 50% chance of even making the wc game and basically no chance to win the division.
Spending the premium for a reliever (really the only team need) would have been foolish considering it was clearly a sellers market.
And any acquisition needed to have 2017 in mind, and Duke does that.
Tilson is probably not more than a 4th outfielder long term. And we got Duke for 1.5 years, and he fills a major need.
There isn’t any offensive upgrades to be made and our rotation is filled and very talented and under performing.
You can’t be freaking out because the Cubs are finally having a good season. We’ll be competitive this year and next. And that’s all you can ask for as a fan.
We’re spoiled as Cards fans.
Finally! Someone that sees the organization with my outlook.
Bean Cashner in his fat stomach the next time the Cardinals face the Marlins.
#thecardinalway
Please beam Cashner next time he faces Cards.