Cards set to bring up more players from Minors
MILWAUKEE -- Triple-A Memphis' run came to a close on Saturday with the team's semifinal-round loss to Omaha in the Pacific Coast League playoffs. However, for multiple players on that club, their season will continue with a trip to the big leagues.
The Cardinals plan to add another group of players to their roster prior to Monday's series opener in Cincinnati. The organization will wait another day to announce those callups, since there will be others affected by the moves. Any player called up who is not already on the 40-man roster will have to be added. Since the Cards currently don't have any roster openings, they'll have to make some room by removing others.
Outfielder Tommy Pham and reliever Sam Tuivailala are considered strong non-roster candidates for a callup. The Cardinals have others on their 40-man roster, like Greg Garcia, Jorge Rondon and Eric Fornataro, who were in the Majors earlier this season and could be summoned to return.
The Cardinals are already playing with an active roster of 33, having made their callups in waves over the past week.
"We are only bringing up guys who we feel can help us in certain situations," manager Mike Matheny said. "The reward goes along with it. We've had quite a few guys have nice seasons, and I think that's probably why we're seeing the numbers bigger than [they've been before]. But besides that, this is about winning. Every guy we've brought up so far, we've used.
"I also think it's a great experience if we see a couple guys we can bring in who may help us in the future. Next to Spring Training, I don't think there is a better learning experience than to bring guys up at this time of year. They get to be around a group of guys that really have their senses heightened and the urgency to how they prepare."
Worth noting
• With Memphis dropping its postseason series to Omaha on Saturday, short-season State College stands as the final Cardinals affiliate still alive in the playoffs. State College opens its best-of-three New York-Penn League Championship series against Tri-City on Sunday.
• With the re-emergence of Carlos Martinez, Matheny has had the benefit of plugging him into late-inning spots so he can be more proactive with days off for Pat Neshek and Trevor Rosenthal. Neshek, in particular, has benefited, and has pitched on consecutive days only once in the last month.
• Though the knob of his bat jammed his right thumb in the ninth inning on Saturday, Yadier Molina felt no constraining effects a day later. Matheny said that the medical staff examined Molina's thumb, but determined that he has jammed a different area than the one that was surgically repaired recently.