St. Louis Cardinals: Randal Grichuk to begin Double-A rehab stint

Randal Grichuk will start a rehab stint with Double-A Springfield on Wednesday.

The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Tuesday that outfielder Randal Grichuk will begin a rehab assignment with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals on Wednesday. Grichuk has been on the disabled list since last Friday (his DL stint was back-dated to July 10) with a lower-back strain that he apparently suffered over the All-Star break.

The 25-year-old Grichuk has posted a .215/.270/.408 slash line with nine homers in 241 major-league plate appearances this season. He was in the minor leagues from May 29 to June 25, initially heading to the Cardinals’ spring training facility to work on his swing before going to Triple-A Memphis, where he hit .270/.313/.603 with six homers in 67 plate appearances.

It’ll be interesting to see if Grichuk gets another opportunity with the big-league club upon his return from the DL. With Stephen Piscotty also on the DL due to a groin injury, there’s playing time available alongside Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty, and as of Saturday, GM Michael Girsch seemed to indicate that Grichuk would be restored to the big-league roster once he was healthy.

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But in Grichuk’s absence, rookie Magneuris Sierra has thrived. While José Martínez could rather easily be optioned to Triple-A to accommodate Grichuk if the lefthanded-hitting slugger returns before Piscotty, it’ll be interesting to see who gets the edge between Sierra and Grichuk once a decision has to be made. One would think it would be Grichuk since the Cardinals don’t want to halt the 21-year-old Sierra’s development, but if he continues to hit .400 with an .842 OPS, the Cardinals may be forced to work him into the mix.