The Cardinals have made four call-ups from their alternate training site, as left-hander Rob Kaminsky, first baseman John Nogowski, and right-handers Ryan Meisinger and Seth Elledge are all joining the active roster. They will take the roster spots left open by infielder Max Schrock and righties Daniel Ponce de Leon and Junior Fernandez, who are all headed to the alternate site. In addition, left-hander Ricardo Sanchez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to pain in his throwing elbow.
Ponce de Leon, Fernandez, Sanchez, and even Schrock (in mop-up duty) pitched in last night’s 14-2 loss to the Indians. Ponce de Leon started and lasted only two-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs on four walks and two hits.
This demotion won’t last long, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Ponce De Leon will be back as the 29th man for next weekend’s doubleheader against the Cubs. As for Ponce De Leon’s normal starting spot, however, Johan Oviedo will now take a regular turn in the rotation. Oviedo has made two starts already for the Cards this season, looking solid in posting a 3.60 ERA over 10 innings.
Sanchez’s ominous-sounding injury continues what has already been a difficult year for the 23-year-old, as he missed two weeks in July recovering from a COVID-19 diagnosis. The southpaw did make his big league debut this season, posting a 6.75 ERA over 5 1/3 IP (three games).