ST. LOUIS -- Not wanting to play with three-man bench until rosters expand on Saturday, the Cardinals placed Kolten Wong on the 10-day disabled list and recalled infielder Patrick Wisdom on Tuesday.
Wong sustained what general manager Michael Girsch described as a "relatively mild strain" of his left hamstring on Saturday. The Cardinals do not anticipate Wong needing much more than the next week to heal and are thus optimistic that he could return to the field on or around Sept. 5, which is the first day he's eligible to come off the DL.
In Wong's absence, the Cardinals can mix and match at second with Greg Garcia, Yairo Munoz, Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter. Wisdom, who is back with the big league team for the second time, is an option to play either corner infield position.
In nine games with the Cardinals earlier this month, Wisdom went 4-for-12 with a home run and three RBIs.
Wainwright building as a starter
The Cardinals haven't decided how they'll use Adam Wainwright when he returns from a right elbow injury, but they are enhancing his flexibility by having the veteran right-hander make one more Minor League start to build arm strength.
With four more scoreless innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Memphis on Monday, Wainwright has run his string of scoreless innings to 12 over five appearances with three affiliates. The Cardinals plan to have Wainwright start for Memphis again on Saturday. He'll be pushed to about 75 pitches in the outing.
"I don't think we're at that point where we would say, 'Waino will come back as a starter,'" Girsch said. "But he's preparing to be a starter in case that's what we decide to do. All indications are that he's pitching like he was in Spring Training when he was feeling good and throwing well and everyone was optimistic about the season."
That includes fastball velocity sitting 89-92 mph, a curveball with bite and command of his pitches. In addition to not allowing a run, Wainwright has walked just two over his five rehab appearances. He's also recovered well after each outing.
"The way he's performed and how well he's felt and how well he's recovered has made being a starter a much more realistic option than it was a month ago," Girsch said. "That's not necessarily because we didn't think he could do it. We just had no idea what would happen when he started throwing."
Wainwright, who is 1-3 with a 4.00 ERA in four starts for the Cardinals this season, has been on the DL five times during a 12-month period.
Wacha exits with fatigue
While the Cardinals prepare for the possibility of plugging Wainwright back into the rotation in September, they're also evaluating how soon Michael Wacha may be ready to rejoin the Major League team.
Wacha, however, was not able to throw his planned 65 pitches in a Double-A rehab start on Tuesday. He left the mound alongside a trainer, with the Cardinals later announcing that Wacha's departure was due to fatigue. In 2 1/3 innings, Wacha allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits and one walk. He struck out three and threw 29 of his 52 pitches for strikes.
Wacha is scheduled to return to St. Louis on Wednesday for further evaluation.
Worth noting
• Marcell Ozuna (right shoulder inflammation) has resumed swinging and remains on track to come off the DL when he's eligible on Saturday. Ozuna, who received a cortisone injection in his shoulder a week ago, will begin throwing later this week.
• ESPN announced that it selected the Cardinals' Sept. 16 game against the Dodgers as its Sunday Night Game of the Week. First pitch for the game has been pushed back to 7:07 p.m. CT.
• Stubby Clapp has been named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year for a second consecutive season, something done just twice previously in league history. Clapp has guided the Redbirds to division titles in each of his first two years on the job.
• Right-hander Dakota Hudson and outfielder Tyler O'Neill have been named to the all-PCL Team, marking the first time in Memphis' history that it has placed two players on that list in the same season. Hudson and O'Neill are now both with the Major League club.