Arch Authority
Fansided

St. Louis Cardinals Recall Randal Grichuk from Memphis, Place Matt Adams on DL

By Patrick Karraker

Mar 21, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (32) and center fielder Randal Grichuk (15) take the field for the game against the Boston Red Sox at Roger Dean Stadium. The Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (32) and center fielder Randal Grichuk (15) take the field for the game against the Boston Red Sox at Roger Dean Stadium. The Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports /
twitterfacebookreddit

The St. Louis Cardinals will add another player back to their massive outfield rotation as Matt Adams hits the 15-day disabled list.

The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Thursday afternoon that first baseman Matt Adams has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with left shoulder inflammation. Adams, who’s been reduced to a limited role with the return of Brandon Moss, was scratched from Wednesday night’s starting lineup and replaced by Matt Carpenter.

To take Adams’ spot on the roster, the Cardinals recalled outfielder Randal Grichuk from Triple-A Memphis. This is the third big-league stint of the season for Grichuk, who was a Rookie of the Year candidate last year and opened the season as the Cardinals’ starting center fielder before struggling out of the gates and having his role reduced.

Over 293 big-league plate appearances this year, Grichuk is hitting .216/280/.414 with 12 homers.

More from Arch Authority

Those numbers aren’t absolutely terrible for a guy who plays an alright defensive center field and has improved his plate discipline this year (his OPS is nearly 70 points higher than

Jason Heyward

‘s), but they’re very disappointing for a player that had an .877 OPS and looked like he could hit between 20-30 homers on an annual basis last season.

Now the Cardinals have Matt Holliday and Stephen Piscotty receiving playing time virtually every day at the outfield corners, though it’s theoretically possible that those two could get some time at first with Adams back on the DL. Moss is also getting near-everyday playing time at either first or an outfield corner, so he’ll be an obstacle for playing time for Grichuk. That’s not even to mention Tommy Pham and Jeremy Hazelbaker, who have arguably provided better results than Grichuk this season, and Kolten Wong, who could get some more time in the outfield with Carpenter back at second base.

Next: Cardinals' Luke Weaver to Make MLB Debut Saturday

Grichuk is hitting .250/.323/.464 with a homer in eight games since returning to Memphis. It appears that he’s doing more of the same–making slightly better contact and tapping into a little bit of power against Triple-A pitching–so the Cards’ expectations probably shouldn’t be sky high for his return. It should be interesting to see how much playing time he’s given, as the Cardinals have so many other options in the outfield.

Home/St. Louis Cardinals