Cardinals Lose Two Key Offensive Players In Back-To-Back Days

The St. Louis Cardinals season has been frustrating from Opening Day on and it's not getting any better with only 40 games remaining.

St. Louis has lost two incredibly important members of the lineup in back-to-back days. After missing a few games with a nagging injury, second baseman Nolan Gorman was placed on the 10-day injured list -- retroactive to Aug. 14, with a lower back strain on Thursday according to the Major League Baseball transaction wire.

Less than 24 hours later, the Cardinals placed outfielder Lars Nootbar on the 10-day injured list with a lower abdomen contusion after fouling a ball off of himself.

Gorman was hitting .241 with 40 extra-base hits including 24 home runs, 67 RBIs and a .815 OPS in 104 games for the Cardinals this season. He's been one of the most important sources of power for St. Louis and has improved defensively from his rookie season.

Nootbaar was hitting .283 with 31 extra-base hits including 12 home runs, 39 RBIs and a .835 OPS in 90 games this season. He's also been one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball since the All-Star break.

The one silver lining, if there is any, is that the Cardinals' top organizational prospect, shortstop Masyn Winn, will replace Nootbaar on the active roster. Richie Palacios replaced Gorman on Thursday.

Super utility man Tommy Edman is expected to fill Nootbaar's outfield responsibilities while Winn takes over as the primary shortstop.

It'll be interesting to see how the 21-year-old prospect handles his first taste of big-league ball -- but it would have been more entertaining to see him in the lineup alongside Gorman and Nootbaar.