On Tuesday, the St. Louis Cardinals dismissed veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford and reinstated infielder Matt Carpenter from the injured list.
Crawford, a four-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star who played 13 seasons for the San Francisco Giants, batted.This season, the Cardinals have 169 hits, one home run, and four RBIs in 80 plate appearances. He last played on August 10.
“I have an incredible amount of respect for Crawford, for his career, what he did away from here, but also what he brought to the table while he was here,” the Cardinals manager, Oliver Marmol, said.
“I understand some may argue that he did not spend much time on the field. But you’re missing a large part of what makes the team a team, and his consistency, overall approach, and the way he goes about his job added a lot to the mix.”
Crawford, 37, was signed as a free agent this offseason to back up youngster Masyn Winn, who has performed admirably as St. Louis’ regular leadoff hitter. This resulted in less opportunities for Crawford.
“It’s never easy,” Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak stated. “This is a challenging business. We tried. We truly wanted him to continue the season with us and make it through, but we have a lot of demands on our roster right now.”
Carpenter had been sidelined with a lower back issue. As a utility player, he is hitting.255 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.
Prior to Tuesday night’s game against NL Central leader Milwaukee, the Cardinals optioned outfielder Jordan Walker to Triple-A Memphis and recalled infielder Luken Baker.
