Miguel Cairo covered second base for 2B-L Fernando Vina for close to four weeks before joining him on the disabled list. The fifth metacarpal in Cairo's left hand fractured when RHP Dan Kolb hit him with a pitch during the sixth inning of the Cardinals' June 18th game in Milwaukee. Cairo is expected to miss three to six weeks while the bone extending back from his pinky finger heals. Vina isn't scheduled to return until sometime between late July and September. However, Cairo's production didn't warrant the starting job into which he was thrust, so he may return to the bench if his stand-in performs well. Unless they can work a payroll neutral deal, St. Louis isn't expected to make a trade to fill the vacancy.

The Cardinals called up IF-R Bo Hart to replace UT-R Cairo on the roster and at second base. St. Louis drafted Hart out of Gonzaga University with their 33rd round pick of the 1999 draft. He finished out that season with New Jersey in the Short-Season New York Pennsylvania League and then spent the next two years with A+ Potomac in the Carolina League in part because he lost time to injury. Last season, Hart advanced to AA New Haven in the Eastern League. The 26-year-old began 2003 at AAA Memphis in the Pacific Coast League and was hitting .298 with a .332 OBP and .445 SLG on 79 H, 14 2B, 2 3B, and 7 HR with a 15:54 BB:K and 4/6 SB% in 265 AB when called up on Thursday.

Hart made his major league debut as the Cardinals' starting second baseman in the team's June 19th game in Milwaukee. Batting eighth, Hart came to the plate in the second inning and doubled to left off RHP Ruben Quevedo for his first major league hit. He grounded out to second in the fourth, but during his fifth inning at-bat, he tripled deep into centerfield. Hart took a base on balls off LHP Matt Ford in his final plate appearance of a strong first game.

St. Louis shouldn't expect him to continue at this torrid pace, but despite the lack of patience indicated in his AAA numbers, he may perform at a higher level than Cairo. Hart displayed a solid walk rate at AA, suggesting he's capable of exercising better strike zone judgment than he's used at Memphis this year. He's shown a bit more power this season and slightly better base stealing instincts, but he's not likely to either hit numerous homers or steal many bases, though he won't be plodding around the bags. If he does well in this substitute roll, he easily could secure a future bench job with the Cardinals.

On Wednesday, St. Louis activated LHP Lance Painter from the disabled list. While Painter was originally diagnosed with a torn hamstring, he later discovered that he had fractured his pelvis where the hamstring tendon connects to the bone. Painter rested for around a month before rebuilding his arm strength and embarking on a rehab assignment, which went well. He's now prepared to resume his bullpen roll, as the team's second left-handed reliever, though Manager Tony LaRussa doesn't intend to limit him to specialist work.

In order to make room for Painter on the roster, the Cardinals designated RHP Dustin Hermanson for assignment. St. Louis likely won't find anyone interested in assuming the remainder of his $900,000 salary, as Hermanson hasn't posted strong numbers this season. However, the Cardinals evidently are hopeful that he may pass through waivers and choose to accept a minor league assignment with the organization. If he reports to AAA, he'll work as a starter for Memphis and could receive a call-up later in the season if there is an injury to a member of the rotation. The 30-year-old also could choose to temporarily accept the assignment and ask for his release after he's improved his marketability by stretching out his arm and accumulating some success at AAA.

Last week, St. Louis activated RHP Jason Isringhausen and C-R Joe Girardi from the disable list. The timing of Girardi's return was fortuitous as C-R Chris Widger severely bruised his right thumb a few days earlier. The Cardinals placed Widger on the DL to make room for Girardi on the roster. While the injury is sufficiently serious to keep Widger benched for several days, he probably won't need to remain on the DL long. Consequently, barring injury to Matheny or Girardi, St. Louis likely will try to send Widger through waivers to AAA once they've strung out his rehab assignment. Given the severity of Girardi's back problem, he easily could aggravate the problem and need to return to the DL, so I suspect Widger will rejoin the Cardinals before the end of the year.

I don't expect Isringhausen to have any further arm troubles this season. He did a through job of rehabbing, and St. Louis appears likely to protect him from too many back-to-back outings. In order to make room for Isringhausen on the roster, the Cardinals demoted OF-R So Taguchi. St. Louis preferred to keep OF-L Kerry Robinson on the roster as the fifth outfielder, as he adds an extra left-handed bat to the bench. Robinson joined the team in the first week of June when the Cardinals demoted RHP Mike Crudale. Crudale struggled with his control in May, and St. Louis hopes a trip to the minors will help him sort out that problem.