Cardinals Making Room For Return Of Fan-Favorite Slugger

The St. Louis Cardinals are red-hot right now and could get one of their top offensive players back into the mix as soon as Friday.

St. Louis has won five straight games heading into a day off on Thursday. The Cardinals swept the Pittsburgh Pirates and won the final two games of their recent series against the New York Mets. The Cardinals will begin a three-game set against the Washington Nationals on Friday night and there's a chance that young slugger Iván Herrera is back in the mix. MLB.com's John Denton shared Wednesday night that the team sent Luken Baker down to the minors to open up a roster spot.

"As expected, the Cardinals optioned 1B/DH Luken Baker to Triple-A," Denton said. "The move makes room on the roster for returning catcher Iván Herrera, who missed a month with a bone bruise in his left knee. The Cards will likely keep three catchers: Herrera, Pedro Pagès and Yohel Pozo."

Before going down with his knee injury Herrera was one of the hottest players in the National League. He appeared in seven games to kick off the young season and was slashing .381/1.048/1.506 with four homers and 11 RBIs. That's a pretty impressive seven-game stretch. Having the 24-year-old back into the mix will be a game-changer.

The Cardinals have had an up-and-down start to the season so far but look like they have finally put it together. Getting Herrera back will just help take the team to another level.