The Cardinals announced that infielder Nolan Gorman has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain, with fellow infielder Juniel Querecuto selected to take his place on the active roster. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster and won’t need to open a spot there.
Querecuto, 30, has a sliver of major league experience, having played four games for the Rays in 2016. Since then, he’s signed minor league deals with the Giants, Diamondbacks and Reds without getting back to the big leagues.
He joined the Cards on a minor league deal in the offseason and has been with Triple-A Memphis this year. In 440 plate appearances over 106 games for the Redbirds, he’s hit 13 home runs and walked in 9.1% of his plate appearances. The run-scoring environment is quite high in the International League this year, so his .269/.343/.418 line looks solid at first glance but translates to a wRC+ of 91. But he also stole 12 bases in 13 tries, as well as suiting up at the three infield positions to the left of first base and spending some time in the outfield.
The Cards now have three positions players on the injured list, with Gorman joining Brendan Donovan and Dylan Carlson. As the club plays out the string on a lost season, Querecuto can bounce around the diamond as needed. If he hangs onto his roster spot, he still has a full slate of options and just a few days of service time.
As for Gorman, he left last night’s game with hamstring tightness and the club will let him rest for at least 10 days. They haven’t provided any updates about the severity of his injury, but since they are out of contention and there’s just over two weeks left on the schedule, it’s possible his season is over. Although he has struck out in 31.9% of his trips to the plate this year, he’s also walked at a strong 11.4% clip and hit 27 home runs.
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