photo: Jordan Walker (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
On Saturday, May 31, the St. Louis Cardinals announced two pairs of transactions, including starting right fielder Jordan Walker moving to the injured list.
- OF Jordan Walker to St. Louis’ 10-day IL, retroactive to May 29.
- IF/OF Ryan Vilade added to 40-man roster, from Memphis to St. Louis.
- RHR Roddery Muñoz from Memphis to St. Louis.
- RHR Gordon Graceffo from St. Louis to Memphis.
Walker’s left wrist inflammation has come at a bad time, as until recently he had struggled this season. Through his initial 138 plate appearances in 2025, the outfielder had a .502 OPS, despite the Cardinals showing their confidence by playing him every day.
In his most recent 34 PAs, Walker slashed a very respectable .333/.353/.545/.898. Potential recipients of additional playing time during his absence include another warming up hitter, Alec Burleson, and an ice-cold one in Nolan Gorman.
Vilade is a veteran utilityman who played in 20 MLB games previously with Detroit and Colorado. This season, the 26-year-old has played every position with Memphis other than pitcher, catcher and shortstop. In 192 plate appearances over 48 games with Memphis, Vilade slashed .280/.375/.476/.851. He will likely serve as a late-game bench option with St. Louis.
Vilade takes the open spot on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster created when Michael Helman was placed on waivers mid-month.
It is interesting that Vilade was promoted ahead of five 40-man infielders and outfielders – OFs Michael Siani and Matt Koperniak and IFs Jose Fermin and Thomas Saggese. First baseman Luken Baker is another hitter already on the roster who was passed over this time.
Muñoz has been a regular on the Memphis shuttle as this is his fifth time up this season. In Triple-A, the right-hander has a 5.06 ERA in 15 relief appearances. With St. Louis, the 26-year-old’s ERA is 7.71 in four appearances.
With his most recent promotion to St. Louis, on May 5, the Cardinals declared that Graceffo would work out of the bullpen. Since May 16, he has been scored upon in three of his four outings, including being charged with four runs in one inning against the Rangers on Friday. Hence, the addition of a fresh arm in Muñoz.
With St. Louis, Graceffo has a 7.47 ERA in nine relief appearances. At Triple-A, he has no results to date as a reliever. In four starts for Memphis, his ERA was 5.71.
Update: Saturday Minor League News
At Triple-A Memphis, two left-handed pitchers exchanged places on the injured list.
- LHS Quinn Mathews activated from Memphis’ 7-day IL.
- LHR Rob Kaminsky placed on Memphis’ 7-day IL.
Plus Peoria right handed reliever Joseph King was returned to the injured list.
Mathews, 24, is the organization’s top pitching prospect. He had been out since April 13 due to shoulder soreness. In one rehab outing each in the FCL and Class-A, Mathews threw five innings on three hits, no walks and with eight strikeouts.
In this space yesterday, I speculated that newly added Leonardo Taveras could get the Saturday start for Memphis. This news could change those plans as Mathews last threw in game action six days ago, on May 25.
This is very disappointing news for the 30-year-old Kaminsky, who had just been activated for the first time in 2025 on May 20. In his only outing with Memphis, Kaminsky threw a scoreless inning with no hits, a walk and a strikeout.
Like Kaminsky, King began the season on the IL and only recently returned. After a rehab stint with Palm Beach, King was activated at Palm Beach on April 29.
In seven Midwest League contests, the right-hander was charged with five earned runs in 9 1/3 innings for a 4.82 ERA. King dealt with a lot of baserunners, allowing 11 hits and walking eight (2.04 WHIP_ against 15 strikeouts.
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