Tommy Edman was placed on the Cardinals’ 10-day injured list on July 7, as the multi-positional regular was suffering from inflammation in right wrist. A clean MRI provided some hope that Edman could be back soon after the All-Star break, but that doesn’t look like it will be the case, as manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including MLB.com) that Edman received an injection in his wrist. As a result, Marmol said it will be “several more days” before Edman can return.
Rotating between shortstop, second base, center field, and right field this season, Edman’s versatility and switch-hitting bat have been very helpful to St. Louis, even if his production at the plate has dropped off. Edman had a 108 wRC+ over 630 plate appearances in 2022, but he had only a 91 wRC+ (and a .237/.303/.391 slash line) over 307 PA thus far in 2023. It could be that the move to the outfield is hurting Edman’s hitting, as his offense has badly tailed off since the Cardinals started regularly starting him in center field in late May. With St. Louis looking like probable sellers at the deadline, it remains to be seen how Edman might fit into what could be a remodeled mix around the diamond, though the first order of business for the 28-year-old is just to get healthy. To be clear, there hasn’t been much trade buzz around Edman himself, and his lingering injury would certainly seem like a further obstacle to any sort of deal.
More injury updates from around baseball…
- Jeimer Candelario is a much clearer trade candidate as the deadline approaches, but the Nationals third baseman got an injury scare of his own yesterday when he injured his thumb during a pregame fielding drill. Manager Davey Martinez described the injury as a bone bruise, and Candelario tried to play through the pain but had to leave the game after his first at-bat. Candelario is day to day for now, as Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that the infielder was hoping to be ready as soon as tonight’s game with the Cardinals. While there’s no truly good time for an injury, the timing is particularly bad for Candelario and the Nats with the deadline approaching. Even a minimal IL stint will likely impact the club’s chances of maximizing value in a trade, or it could scuttle the chances of a deal altogether.
- Blue Jays righty Kevin Gausman was scratched from his scheduled start today due to soreness in his left side, with Chris Bassitt instead taking the hill against the Diamondbacks. Jays manager John Schneider told The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath (Twitter links) and other reporters that Gausman first felt the discomfort after his last start before the All-Star break, but an MRI didn’t reveal any injury. As such, Gausman might be able to return as early as Tuesday when the Blue Jays begin a series with the Padres. It’s no surprise that Toronto is being cautious with their ace, as a healthy Gausman (who leads all MLB pitchers with 4.0 fWAR) is critical to the Jays’ chances of reaching the postseason.
- The Rangers placed right-hander Josh Sborz on the 15-day injured list due to right biceps tendinitis, with a backdated placement date of July 12. Left-hander John King was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Sborz has been rocked for nine earned runs over his last 9 1/3 innings (four appearances) of work, spoiling what had been a quietly solid season for the righty in the Texas bullpen. In his previous 34 1/3 innings, Sborz had posted a 2.62 ERA while limiting opposing batters to a .460 OPS. Texas has already made an early trade for Aroldis Chapman in an attempt to shore up its inconsistent bullpen, and more relief help might be needed by the deadline if Sborz will now miss a significant amount of time.
barf… Surely one of the young guys is a bigger option than King.
The guy Tepera was…
Let’s come out with a list who isn’t on the IL. Call it NIL, it would be much shorter & quicker to read.
yeah, I still don’t understand that move.
It’s time to release John King, not promote him. The Rangers have good lefties in the bullpen, and shaky righties. Another lefty is the last thing they need, especially one who throws batting practice. Cut King and promote Alex Speas.
How many Cardinals have been injured trying to play centerfield when they don’t belong in center?
Edman
Nootbaar
ONeill
And Carlson isn’t really a center fielder either.
It’s hard to hate the Bader Montgomery trade because Montogomery has been better than anyone could have hoped. But the team misses Bader.
Yea but Bader has been hurt for most of the year..I liked Bader myself but the cardinals won that trade…especially if they get some talent on the Monty trade soon to happen
Yeah happy with the trade but I think we should have picked up another centerfielder. Because everyone else who plays there keeps getting hurt. Just like Bader.
Maybe there is something wrong with the CF grass at Busch Stadium. Seems like every Cardinal who plays on it gets hurt
Paging commenter “Little Stevie Janowsky”..oh no your Golden Boy Tommy!!!
Another trade chip bye bye.
And good job mentioning that Edmans offense has tailed off since he took over in center because that is definitely what happened. His OPS was closer to 800 before moving to center and his WAR was far better on a per game basis. It’s possible Edman has been a negative win player since moving to center he hasn’t hit at all and he’s not very good defensively out there.
You know you can look that up, right?
I watch the games and follow stats very closely. Pretty sure it’s true if it’s not he’s produced very little WAR since the move to center. So my point is valid regardless. Feel free to look it up for yourself.
Edman has been robbed of having a great career…he belongs at second base where he was one of the best and I think his hitting would have followed
A 2b who can be your backup shortstop. That’s what his role should be. It’s nice that guys can play different positions but that doesn’t make it a good idea.
Typical cardinals fan. Guy was trying to help you learn and you spewed nonsense. Smh.
I watch the games I am not the one who needs to learn. And no he wasn’t helping anyone he just suggested I could look it up but I don’t need to. It’s my team I watch the games and I know what I said is true.
Typical Cardinal fan lol. Ok fella
Here’s hoping the Candelario injury isn’t anything serious. The Yankees and Nationals line up well as trade partners. A trade for Candelario and Meneses would help our offense tremendously.
Seiya Suzuki for Candelario might be a trade that would benefit both reams. Suzuki is signed for 3 more years and definitely would help the Nats in that time frame.
Candelario would help the Cubs short term and the Cubs could use that money savings from Suzuki salary to try to extend Bellinger and/or Stroman – and then put Morel in RF.
Nats have been rather cheap in recent years they are not going to take on Suzuki’s contract
Maybe Texas will go get Flaherty and Hicks
I dream of Goldy. Nathaniel Lowe, Acuna, Zavala, and Winn for him?
On the bright side, we blew another one today to the powerhouse in D.C. Sloppy defense and a worthless bullpen. For all the Contreras sympathizers out there, I don’t know what you see. He is simply unplayable behind the plate. He is hitting better, but it will never be enough to overcome the poor D.
That was a bad loss but I won’t go blaming Contreras for it. The whole defense has been bad in 2023 it started with Walker being forced into the lineup on opening day. Gorman isn’t a very good defender. Arenado made a big error today he has been very average defensively this year and that’s not what we signed up for with him.
The defensive problems go well past Contreras. He’s not a good defender but there are other issues.
You are absolutely correct. But a bad leftfielder doesn’t have anywhere near the impact of bad catcher. Contreras deserves plenty of blame.
It’s not just the poor left field defense though. It’s that by using Walker in left it forced ONeill into center. We took a 2 time gold glover away from left and turned him into a sub par center fielder. Same thing with Edman and DeJong except at least DeJong can actually play defense. But Edman in center is no good. Then we take Nootbaar out of right where he’s a really good defender and play him in center.
It’s poor roster construction. Once DeJong came back he should have been traded. Walker should only have came up if and when ONeill was hurt or someone else.
O’Neill asked to play center. He was trying to build his free agent value. DeJong plays because he makes too much money to sit on the bench. That’s what always determines playing time in St. Louis. I think Edman is a very good centerfielder though I agree he is best utilized at 2B. He hits better there.
At the end of the day all roads lead back to the same place. Mo blew it. And he doesn’t seem to have any interest in fixing it, because that require admitting a wrongdoing. That can’t happen. So we get to go on being outclassed by a team that is early in a rebuild. Cue it up DonnyElementary!
No offense, but Gorman ‘isn’t a very good defender’? Gorman is close to unplayable on defense.
Gorman has improved on defense. If you want to see someone who is almost unplayable on defense look at Walker.
Don;
There is something going on between the owner and Mo.
That signing was worse than awful. Signed through age 36 at $17-18m a year. He hits well for a GG catcher, but not for a guy that can’t handle a staff, call a game or play D. As a full-time DH he isn’t worth half the salary and takes up a space on the roster.
The Cards have a pitching staff that looks great on paper but can’t perform – most of whom want out of the organization so they can resume their above-average to elite careers.
Have their best 2 position playing youngsters for the future – Walker and Gorman – playing out of position which then blocks Nootbaar and Donovan. Branch Rickey’s Cardinals (i.e. The Cardinals Way) are playing with subpar defensive Catchers and SS’s – the 2 most important defensive positions where in years past they gave up offense at those positions for defense…and those teams won (Whitey traded batting champion SS Garry Templeton for slick fielding Ozzie Smith that was a great fielding / no-hit player).
An inexperienced manager that’s obviously taking orders from elsewhere and has gotten little respect from the players on the roster.
Most importantly – a team that has no idea how to win, and doesn’t care. Similar to the White Sox of the last few years – where the rot starts from the owner, moves to the head Baseball Ops guy, then cascades down.
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I’ve written that the Cardinals should trade Nolan Arenado this offseason to free up 3B and unblock the logjam. His contract isn’t attractive, and few teams would want it. But in addition to the Yankees (that may have gotten tired of taking on long-term expensive contracts for used-to-be-dominant veterans) here’s a possibility – send him to the Angels. When Othani leaves the fans will be understanding but upset. They’ll have no name player next to Trout, and they really have no 3B. Arenado is from Newport Beach – an area in Orange County that’s in the Angels market…..Othani lives there. Have to think Arenado would accept a trade there. The Cardinals can get back a quality starting pitcher or two to ruin.
ONeill didn’t ask to play center he was told we wanted to get other guys playing time and offered to play center so he could get playing time.
Who cares what ONeill wants anyways? The team has never cared about him. Never.
DeJong has earned his job back. The problem is by him doing that it displaced Edman.
Yes Mozeliak has not constructed this roster correctly and has been late to make moves to fix things. And hiring Marmol wasn’t smart either. 3 straight managers with no experience. 1 was fired after making the playoffs the 2 years prior. Mo has done a lot of good things but I do think his time might be up.