St. Louis Cardinals Promote Three, Remove Two from 40-Man Roster
The St. Louis Cardinals made what are expected to be their final call-ups of the season on Monday afternoon, promoting pitcher Sam Tuivailala, outfielder Tommy Pham, and infielder Greg Garcia from Triple-A Memphis. All three players had been helping out Memphis with their playoff run, which ended Saturday. To make room for Tuivailala and Pham on the 40-man roster, the Cardinals removed catcher Audry Perez and outfielder Rafael Ortega from the 40-man.
Tuivailala’s call up had been expected, as he had displayed extremely impressive velocity while pitching at three different levels in the Cardinals’ minor league system this year. The 21-year-old will add some extra depth to the bullpen, which has plenty of lefthanded options but is somewhat short on reliable righties. Interestingly, Tuivailala passed up two guys already on the 40-man roster, Eric Fornataro and Jorge Rondon, and earned a call-up while those two were not brought back despite having contributed to the big-league club earlier this season.
The 26-year-old Pham beat the odds this season, forcing his way into the big-league club’s plans despite beginning the year at the back of the Triple-A bench on a club that featured four different guys who would see big-league time–Oscar Taveras, Randal Grichuk, Joey Butler, and Shane Robinson–and elite prospect Stephen Piscotty. After the roster cleared out as Taveras was promoted to the majors, Robinson and Grichuk continued to shuttle between St. Louis and Memphis, and Butler left to play in Japan, Pham found a role in Memphis’s lineup and went on to hit .324/.395/.421 with 10 homers in 346 at-bats. With Robinson now on the shelf for the season with a shoulder injury, Pham could find himself some late-inning pinch-hitting and defensive replacement opportunities, and if he gets enough playing time maybe he could push Grichuk for a spot on the playoff roster.
Garcia begins his third tour of duty with the Cards this year, having gone 2-for-12 at the plate thus far in 2014. The lefthanded-hitting infielder probably won’t get many chances to contribute now that Pete Kozma has gotten himself back into the good graces of the organization, but he provides some nice depth since utility infielder Daniel Descalso has effectively become the backup at both first and third base.
Perez, who was rendered expendable by the presence of Tony Cruz and A.J. Pierzynski on the Cards’ roster, took a walk in his only big-league plate appearance this year. He hit .292 as a platoon catcher at Memphis.
Ortega, a former Colorado Rockie, had obviously been passed up by Pham on the organizational depth chart. He hit .246 with seven homers between three different levels of the Cardinals’ system this year.