St. Louis suffered another injury on Sunday. UT-R Eli Marrero slipped in the wet outfield grass at Wrigley Field and severely sprained his right ankle, tearing ligaments in his lower leg. Sadly, the two teams didn't even finish the game in which Marrero was injured. The game was called due to the weather in the top of the fifth with the score 11-9, Cardinals, and will need to be fully replayed.

Marrero underwent surgery yesterday to repair the ligament damage in his leg, and the Cardinals currently estimate he won't return in less than eight weeks. He could be sidelined until September, so St. Louis placed him on the disabled list. Marrero's injury evidently occurred because he was attempting to avoid colliding with OF-L Jim Edmonds. While losing Marrero for a few months hurts the Cardinals, they would be in much worse shape if Edmonds were forced out of the lineup for a month. Although Edmonds grows increasingly vulnerable to left-handed pitching, his production against righties is nearly irreplaceable.

Meanwhile, St. Louis needed to call up two players to replace Marrero. OF-L Kerry Robinson will help cover his outfield at-bats, while C-R Chris Widger takes over as the back-up catcher. The Cardinals had demoted Robinson on May 2nd when moving from 11 to 12 pitchers. OF-L Orlando Palmeiro should see most of the playing time not covered by starters OF-L J.D. Drew, UT-R Albert Pujols, and Edmonds, but with the tenuous health of those three St. Louis couldn't afford to be without another outfield option.

LaRussa's creative handling of his outfielders should prevent the Cardinals from falling out of the playoff race before they have a chance to make a push in the second half of the season. You have to admire the gumption required to make the decision to play Pujols in the field in spite of his inability to throw a ball with any force without risking severe damage to his elbow. The move is certainly a slap in the face to those that applaud defense at the cost of offense. Pujols won't even begin a throwing program until next week when he will begin working towards a point where throwing doesn't mean potentially tearing his elbow ligament. Meanwhile, LaRussa needs to avoid overtaxing Drew and wants to give Edmonds frequent days off to avoid the wear and tear he typically displays during the season.

New York released Widger after he lost out in the competition for the Yankees' back-up catcher position to John Flaherty. Widger then signed a minor league deal with St. Louis at the end of April, knowing that injuries had reduced the Cardinals' catching depth. Mike Matheny has to be a bit tired after starting behind the plate for all but a handful of the Cardinals' games this year. Consequently, I expect Manager Tony LaRussa to take advantage of Widger's presence to give Matheny a couple more days off in the next month. Matheny has slightly improved upon his historically paltry offensive skills over the last year, but Widger's power skills will still be a nice alternative for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals demoted LHP Kevin Ohme to open the extra roster spot. Ohme returned to the majors with RHP Mike Crudale on May 2nd, when St. Louis placed RHP Russ Springer on the disabled list. As evidenced by his infrequent appearances, St. Louis really has little reason to carry Ohme with lefty relievers Jeff Fassero and Steve Kline on the roster. However, until he has a chance to fail at the major league level, the Cardinals will probably continue to promote him when they have the flexibility to carry twelve pitchers.

Crudale appeared to recover from his broken toe and correct his mechanical problems at AAA prior to his promotion. St. Louis doesn't yet seem ready to trust him to perform at his 2002 levels, but if he pitches well in middle relief, they'll probably begin using him in a more important role. RHP Jason Isringhausen likely won't rejoin the team for another month. He threw off a mound on Sunday for the first time since his April setback, and the Cardinals want to move him more slowly this time than last. He probably won't begin throwing to batters for at least another two weeks, and he could spend two weeks on a rehab assignment.

St. Louis was using Kline in the closer role for a time, but he apparently didn't like the spotlight. Consequently, the Cardinals have moved back to a committee including Fassero, RHP Kiko Calero, and RHP Dustin Hermanson.

Springer reported numbness in the fingers and palm of his right hand, which are thought to be the result of a sprained elbow. No timetable has been set for his rehab, but unless the Cardinals lose a couple more relievers, they probably won't rush him back. Springer's flyball tendencies leave him vulnerable to homers, and he pitched enough before going down to display that weakness.

Since St. Louis released Mario Encarnacion within 10 days of trading a player to be named later to Montreal to acquire him, I hope the PTBNL isn't worth much. Encarnacion was off to a hot start at AAA Edmonton and demonstrating improvement in his contact rate. However, the Cardinals evidently weren't interested in giving him any additional at-bats after one poor week with AAA Memphis.

Update: Marvin Benard underwent knee surgery today, so he'll be out at least another three weeks and possibly six. Check yesterday's article for details on his original injury and San Francisco's related moves.