photo: Zack Thompson (Memphis Redbirds)
On Saturday, August 27, the St. Louis Cardinals turned over two of their 26 active roster spots for the second consecutive day. The first two transactions below undid moves made on Friday. The other is the culmination of the downward slide of the team’s best left-handed reliever last season.
- Reinstated 3B Nolan Arenado from the Paternity List
- Optioned 1B/ OF Juan Yepez to Memphis
- Recalled LHP Zack Thompson from Memphis
- Optioned LHP Génesis Cabrera to Memphis
Additional Saturday minor league move:
- RHP Edgar Manzo reinstated from Peoria’s 7-day injured list
Arenado, 31, has been one of his team’s hottest hitters this month, The third baseman missed just one game to be with his wife, who gave birth on Thursday. Arenado will be batting cleanup for St. Louis on Saturday night.
Yepez. 24, had been hitting well with Memphis, but there is no room for him on the roster currently. This time up, Yepez went 0-for-1 with two runners on base in Friday night’s blowout home loss to the Braves.
Thompson is in a transformation from starter to late inning left-handed reliever. In his last time sent down, on August 4, the Cardinals told him he needs to demonstrate that he can work on consecutive days. That did not occur as of yet, but the 24-year-old was unscored upon in his last five one-inning appearances back to August 16.
Cabrera, 25, was strong for St. Louis in 2020 and 2021, but has struggled over the last two months of 2022 At the end of June, his ERA was 2.27. After sitting out from June 22 until July 9, Cabrera allowed 14 earned runs in 14 appearances totaling just 13 innings. He has not been in Triple-A for over two years – since August 2020.
As a result of recent moves, the Cardinals have completely revamped the left side of their pen with trade acquisition JoJo Romero and Thompson replacing Cabrera and T.J. McFarland. The latter two are not together again in Memphis.
Manzo, 24, had been on Peoria’s injured list since August 4. He began 2022 with Palm Beach, from where he pitched until his promotion to High-A on June 17. With Peoria, Manzo made five starts and four relief appearances, logging a difficult 9.75 ERA over 24 innings. The right-hander yielded 39 hits and walked 13, so there has been a lot of traffic on the bases.
For more
To see all players in the system by level and position plus every transaction all year ‘round, check out the always free Roster Matrix here at The Cardinal Nation, refreshed today. The Matrix also includes which 2022 draftees have signed and their team assignments when disclosed.
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