Cardinals star Nolan Arenado departed the membership’s win over the Giants within the eighth inning right now as a consequence of discomfort in his left forearm, as famous by MLB.com’s John Denton. Notably, that’s not the identical arm that Arenado suffered an elbow contusion on after being struck by a pitch from Marlins right-hander Huascar Brazoban earlier this week. Extra info was not made out there following tonight’s recreation past the truth that Arenado could be evaluated additional tomorrow.
It’s an unlucky flip of occasions within the midst of what has been a tough season for the 33-year-old veteran, who’s slashing simply .260/.315/.375 with a 99 wRC+. That will be Arenado’s first below-average offensive efficiency in a 162-game season since his rookie marketing campaign again in 2013. He’s paired that lackluster offense with surprisingly pedestrian glovework at third base, the place he’s been price +0 Outs Above Common and -5 Defensive Runs Saved. That’s a far cry from the fielding he provided on the place earlier in his profession, when he gained the NL Gold Glove award at third base in ten consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2022.
Even with that diminished manufacturing this yr, nonetheless, the lack of Arenado would nonetheless be a tricky blow for the Cardinals ought to he find yourself lacking time as a consequence of his damage. Not solely is he simply two seasons faraway from a marketing campaign the place he was a finalist for the NL MVP award, however the eight-time All Star is the membership’s solely clear answer at third base given the current development of the lineup. Whereas former high prospect Jordan Walker got here up as a 3rd baseman and is at the moment within the minors, the 22-year-old has struggled each in Triple-A and on the huge league degree this yr and transformed to the outfield full time final yr making him an unlikely option to take over for Arenado within the case of an damage.
Tremendous-utility bat Brendan Donovan has performed the new nook at occasions, however he’s settled in because the membership’s common left fielder within the absence of Lars Nootbaar. It’s attainable that Donovan might slide over to 3rd base and open up left subject for Dylan Carlson, however maybe a extra seemingly state of affairs would see the Cardinals rely extra closely on bench bats Brandon Crawford and Jose Fermin to fill in for Arenado at third. That’s very true given the truth that heart fielder Michael Siani additionally exited right now’s recreation as a consequence of an damage, although Jeff Jones of the Belleville Information-Democrat relayed after the sport that x-rays on Siani’s ribs after he hit the bottom onerous on a diving play within the outfield got here again unfavorable. The 24-year-old seems to have prevented a serious damage, however even a day-to-day situation would no less than quickly weaken the membership’s outfield depth noticeably.
As for Nootbaar, the 26-year-old has been sidelined by an indirect pressure because the finish of Might. Jones relays that he seems to be making progress in his rehab however the outfielder has not but even begun to take batting follow, as a substitute solely hitting off a tee at this stage within the course of. That would appear to point that Nootbaar, who will certainly require a rehab project earlier than he can return to motion, isn’t going to be returning to the membership’s positional combine any time quickly to supply Marmol further flexibility as he fills out the membership’s lineup card within the wake of Arenado’s and Siani’s attainable accidents.
One piece of excellent information for Cardinals followers is the upcoming return of star catcher Willson Contreras, who Marmol instructed reporters (together with Jones) will catch seven innings for Triple-A Memphis tonight earlier than DH’ing tomorrow’s recreation. As Jones notes, Contreras caught for the Redbirds yesterday and Marmol acknowledged that seeing how the 32-year-old held up after catching again to again video games was the final main field the membership wanted to test concerning Contreras’s rehab.
Contreras has been out since early Might with a damaged forearm and was initially anticipated to overlook ten weeks because of the damage, however the backstop has lengthy since clearly been forward of that schedule and looks like he might issue into the membership’s plans earlier than the tip of the month. The slugger posted a superb .280/.398/.551 slash line in 31 video games for the Cardinals this yr earlier than being sidelined by the damage and will present a lift to an offense that has posted a collective wRC+ of simply 95 so far within the season.
