Cardinals call up Anderson, Rosenthal

ST. LOUIS -- As expected, the Cardinals recalled catcher Bryan Anderson and pitcher Trevor Rosenthal from Triple-A Memphis before Wednesday's series finale in Pittsburgh. Infielder Ryan Jackson and reliever Brandon Dickson were optioned to Triple-A in order to create the necessary space on the 25-man roster.

Anderson was pulled from Memphis' game in the third inning on Tuesday, shortly after Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina exited following a collision at the plate in St. Louis' 9-0 loss to the Pirates. Though Molina -- who was diagnosed with a left shoulder, back and neck strain -- is not immediately headed to the disabled list, the Cardinals wanted to have another catcher available to back up Tony Cruz for however long Molina may be sidelined.

Anderson was up with the big league club for three days last month, though he never appeared in a game. In 99 Triple-A games this year, Anderson is hitting .223.

The swap of Dickson for Rosenthal, ranked by MLB.com as the Cardinals' No. 6 prospect, comes after the Cardinals needed Dickson to cover three innings (38 pitches) in relief of starter Jake Westbrook on Tuesday. That workload would have left him unavailable out of the bullpen on Wednesday.

Also working in the Cardinals' favor is the timing. Players optioned to the Minors must remain there for at least 10 days unless they are needed to take the spot of someone on the disabled list. Rosenthal was sent down on Aug. 18, meaning he has met that requirement.

Dickson made two appearances during this short stint with the Cardinals. Rosenthal's only appearance for Memphis since his last demotion came on Aug. 22. He threw five shutout innings in the start.