Central STL News

The St. Louis Cardinals have placed third baseman Nolan Arenado on the 10-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain. The move comes shortly after the team decided to focus on rebuilding following the recent Trade Deadline. Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and eight-time All-Star, has been struggling offensively this season. He has not hit a home run since June 21, marking a 25-game stretch without one, which is close to his career-worst drought.

This is only the second time in Arenado’s five seasons with St. Louis that he has been placed on the injured list. Previously, he missed the final two weeks of the 2023 season because of back soreness when the Cardinals were out of playoff contention.

Nolan Gorman was activated from the 10-day injured list after completing a rehab assignment for low back pain with Double-A Springfield, where he homered on Wednesday. Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Thursday that Gorman and Thomas Saggese would receive more playing time for the rest of the season.

“We’re going to try to find at-bats for Nolan Gorman the best we can,” Mozeliak said following his final Trade Deadline as head of baseball operations before Chaim Bloom takes over in 2026. “Unfortunately, the timing of his injury, it is what it is. Now, we’ve got to try and get him back to where he was prior to his injury. I think, from a playing standpoint, you are going to see those opportunities happen, but you’re also trying not to do it at the expense of somebody trying to get going.

“I do think these things tend to work themselves out over time. But you might say to me, ‘No, they haven’t.’ But typically, they do. So, patience.”

In line with their rebuilding efforts, St. Louis traded veteran relievers Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton and Steven Matz for six minor league prospects earlier in the week and promoted pitchers Ryan Fernandez, Andre Granillo and Roddery Muñoz from Triple-A Memphis.

Arenado dealt with additional injuries this summer; he missed games in early July due to an index finger sprain and sat out more games leading up to the All-Star break because of shoulder irritation. As a result of these health issues, Arenado’s performance declined further in July with a .175 batting average and no home runs during that month.

For this season overall, Arenado’s batting average (.235), on-base percentage (.294), slugging percentage (.366), and OPS (.660) are all at career lows in his 13-year MLB tenure.

Earlier in December, after expressing interest in joining a championship contender rather than participate in another rebuild year with St. Louis, Arenado was nearly traded to Houston but used his no-trade clause to prevent it. Before this year’s deadline passed without any deal being reached regarding teams acceptable under his contract terms, Arenado met again with Mozeliak about possible destinations but ultimately remained with St. Louis.

Arenado joined St. Louis from Colorado ahead of the 2021 season as a key addition for potential championship runs; he finished third in National League MVP voting in 2022 but saw his streaks of strong offensive production end afterward.

According to Spotrac data (https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/st-louis-cardinals/nolan-arenado-13634/), Arenado remains under contract for $42 million through 2027—with $27 million owed next year and $15 million due in 2027.