St. Louis placed Jim Edmonds on the DL Monday retroactive to June 1st. Edmonds sprained his wrist in a May 31st game against Pittsburgh and hasn't been in the lineup since the injury. The Cardinals actually expect Edmonds to be ready to play when he's eligible to return from the disabled list on Sunday but wanted the option of having another healthy player on the roster this week.

The Cardinals called up So Taguchi to fill Edmond's roster spot. A long-time Japanese league player and former teammate of Ichiro Suzuki, Taguchi signed with the Cardinals this off-season but failed to make the team out of Spring Training. While his defense is considered excellent, he's struggled at the plate.

Playing for AAA Memphis this season, Taguchi has 42 H, 9 2B, and 2 HR in 172 AB with a 6:25 BB:K and 4/6 SB% for a .244 BA, .284 OBP, and .331 SLG. St. Louis is in the middle of an interleague series in Seattle, home of the two most prominent Japanese imports, Ichiro and Kazuhiro Sasaki, so perhaps the Cardinals wanted to showcase Taguchi before Mariner fans. Even if he doesn't provide St. Louis with much at the plate, he shouldn't be up long enough to hurt the team and his presence gives them more flexibility than a roster spot filled with a player unavailable due to injury.

Minnesota traded Warren Morris to the Cardinals for a player to be named later yesterday. If they're really that interested in Morris, St. Louis should have picked him up off waivers when the Twins sent him down in late May; instead they've now potentially given up a player of value for someone they could have picked up for a waiver fee.

Miguel Cairo hasn't performed overly well for the Cardinals this season and Fernando Vina, though healthy now, is prone to injury problems, so Morris will serve as injury insurance at AAA. If Morris begins to display better skills at AAA and Cairo continues to struggle, Morris could receive a non-injury related call-up.

In mid-May, the Cardinals activated Garrett Stephenson from his trip to the DL for back problems. However, he returned to the disabled list last Tuesday with an injured left hamstring. The leg reportedly first began to bother him while he was on the DL the first time this season and extended his stay on the disabled list.

He had surgery on the hamstring last Thursday. The doctors removed a non-cancerous mass from his leg and repaired the damage. Stephenson will need to rest for 4 weeks before he can begin putting pressure on the leg and it will likely be 6 weeks before he begins to throw again. The Cardinals do not view this as a season-ending injury, though he will likely be out until August.

Stephenson has not had any problems with his elbow, which is only a little over a year removed from Tommy John surgery. The only positive to these other injuries is that his elbow should receive plenty of rest while he's rehabbing his other problems.

Travis Smith was sent down when Stephenson was activated from the disabled list in mid-May. Jason Simontacchi out performed Smith in the rotation and the Cardinals didn't want Smith in the pen. In 25.2 IP, he allowed 26 H and 6 H with a 19:13 K:BB.

The Cardinals recalled Bud Smith to replace Stephenson on the roster. Smith had been sent down when St. Louis activated Woody Williams from the DL. Williams has been rather effective since rejoining the team.

Smith struggled after returning from a DL trip for a shoulder problem in early May, leading to his demotion. St. Louis has handled Smith poorly this season, starting him in the minors in order to make room for Andy Benes, who now seems unlikely to pitch in the majors again. After Smith was called up to cover for injuries, he developed the shoulder problem. The Cardinals now seem to be punishing Smith as though his poor performance were the result of a skill deficiency rather than injury related.

Steve Kline returned to the St. Louis pen at the end of May. While on the disabled list with a triceps injury, Kline developed gout in his left knee. However, he seems fine since his activation and has not been bothered by either the triceps or the knee.

The Cardinals sent down Mike Crudale to clear room on the roster for Kline. Crudale was pitching well for St. Louis with a 14:2 K:BB in 16 IP with 14 H allowed, so the team would like to get him back in the pen at some point and will likely recall him if they can move someone like Dave Veres.

I don't know why they didn't send down Luther Hackman instead of Crudale. Hackman has a 15:19 K:BB in 32 IP with 29 H and 2 HR allowed. St. Louis should really activate Crudale for Hackman.

Some concern has arisen about the health of closer Jason Isringhausen because he was reported unavailable yesterday and hadn't pitched since June 4th. Isringhausen did feel some tightness in his forearm last night and was therefore kept out of the game. However this isn't considered serious and hasn't been the cause of his light workload. In fact, the Cardinals blame the twinge on the long period between outings. He likely could have thrown in yesterday's game but St. Louis didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.