ST. LOUIS -- After missing 18 games with a groin injury, Jose Martinez was activated by the Cardinals on Monday. The club sent Randal Grichuk down in a corresponding roster move ahead of the team's four-game series against the Dodgers in Busch Stadium.
Martinez was back in the clubhouse, and he got the start in right field, batting eighth, on Monday. He said he was excited to return to the club, and he added that his recovery was all on schedule and he was pleased there weren't any setbacks.
"For me, I love baseball," Martinez said. "When you're out ... you feel a little different. It's a good thing I'm back. I'm 100 percent, ready to play and just trying to help the team, whatever it is."
While on rehab assignment with Class A Advanced Palm Beach, Martinez went 4-for-12 with a home run, two doubles, a pair of walks and a stolen base.
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said he hoped the move could help spark the team's offense. The Cards had scored more than three runs just once in their past four games entering Monday, and they had not won a game in which their opponent scored more than three runs since May 10.
The biggest factor in the corresponding roster move, Mozeliak said, came from the results-based industry that is baseball. He said while the goal is for Grichuk to get back to playing well, he simply wasn't producing enough to stay around.

"Over the last week or so, he's really been struggling at the plate," Mozeliak said. "He's got that type of power, game-changing type swing, but right now it's just not working."
The team decided to send Grichuk to Palm Beach rather than the Triple-A affiliate in Memphis. Mozeliak said this was to put Grichuk in a lower-stress environment where he could play consistently and work on things like his strike-zone management.
Mozeliak added that Grichuk will have a different voice to learn from, working with George Greer as he tries to get back to the Majors.
"Clearly, the simple thing might have been just to send him down to Memphis, let him get going, but we've all seen him hit," Mozeliak said. "You've always heard me say, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different outcome.' This is no different."