photo: Oscar Mercado (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Cardinals recalled from Memphis starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore and added center fielder Oscar Mercado to the 40-man and 26-man rosters. Four other transactions are related.
St. Louis Cardinals announcements
- LHP Matthew Liberatore recalled from Memphis to St. Louis
- RHP James Naile optioned from St. Louis to Memphis
- OF Dylan Carlson placed on St. Louis’ 10-day IL, retroactive to 5/15
- OF Óscar Mercado selected by St. Louis from Memphis
- LHP Packy Naughton moved from St. Louis’ 15-day to 60-day IL
- OF Matt Koperniak promoted from Springfield to Memphis
Brian Walton’s take
Liberatore’s promotion and plans for a six-man roster were covered in detail in the following article.
The long-man Naile was the obvious pitcher to be sent down to make room for Liberatore. In 4 1/3 innings for St. Louis, the 30-year-old has allowed five runs, two earned, on eight hits and three walks. The right-hander struck out just one.
The switch-hitting Carlson sprained his left ankle coming out of the batter’s box in Boston on Sunday. With his IL stint backdated to Monday, his 10 days will be up next Thursday, assuming he will be ready, of course.
For the season, the 24-year-old has been the Cardinals’ poorest-performing active starter offensively with a .628 OPS and 74 OPS+ in 32 games.
Carlson has been the Cardinals’ primary center fielder, with Lars Nootbaar the only other CF-capable player on the active roster. So there was a clear need for Mercado.
This is Carlson’s fourth IL visit in the last season and a half. The prior injuries were in September 2021 (right wrist sprain), May 2022 (left hamstring sprain) and September 2022 (left thumb sprain).
A true center fielder joins the Cardinals in Mercado, a player about whom manager Oli Marmol was very complimentary this spring. Mercado has a team-leading 15 steals (in 18 tries) and a .361 OBP for Memphis.
The 28-year-old was originally drafted as a Florida high school shortstop by the Cardinals in the second round in 2013. Still a minor leaguer, Mercado was traded to Cleveland in 2018 and has since played in 278 career MLB games. He rejoined St. Louis as a minor league free agent in November 2022.
A 40-man roster move was required to accommodate Mercado. That was the move of Naughton from the 15-day to the 60-day IL. The 27-year-old lefty had tossed five scoreless innings for St. Louis before suffering a left forearm strain on April 7.
With Memphis losing an outfielder in Mercado, the Cardinals called up Koperniak from Springfield to replace him. The Cardinal Nation’s no. 39 prospect first reached Double-A in 2021 and has spent almost all his time there since. The left-handed hitter also had a very brief Triple-A introduction in 2022.
In 145 plate appearances in the Texas League this season, Koperniak is slashing .320/.386/.453/.839.
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