Central STL News

Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left groin strain, with the move retroactive to Friday. The decision comes after Donovan attempted to play through the injury for several games, balancing rest and limited appearances in hopes of contributing during a critical stretch of the season.

“It’s pretty frustrating. I don’t like sitting [at] any time,” Donovan said Monday before the Cardinals began a series against the Marlins in Miami. “I feel we have an opportunity with a lot of season left to make a little run, so that’s definitely frustrating. But I understand that sometimes things happen that are a little bit out of your control. What I can control right now is being a good teammate and just trying to get healthy.”

Donovan, 28, first noticed discomfort during a win over the Cubs on August 8. He missed subsequent games but returned as a pinch hitter on August 11 against the Rockies, delivering a game-winning double. He then started two more games before sitting out three straight contests against the Yankees, where St. Louis was swept at home.

“It’s hard to keep going [in] short day in and day out,” said John Mozeliak, Cardinals president of baseball operations. “In pregame today, he just didn’t feel right, so we decided to make this decision.”

Donovan leads St. Louis in hits this season with 118 and was their only All-Star representative this year. The team entered Monday with a record of 61-64 and trails by five-and-a-half games for the third National League Wild Card spot.

Donovan explained how his injury affected his performance: “It’s really only lateral things, running was OK,” he said. “But pushing off to get a ground ball, and with my rear leg and my swings, I think all of it affected that.

“Playing through pain is one thing. I think when you play a professional sport, that’s just part of it. But when pain starts affecting performance, that’s when I realized it might have been a little deeper than a little bump and a bruise here.”

To fill Donovan's roster spot, infielder José Fermín was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.

Donovan will return to St. Louis for rehabilitation instead of traveling with the team on its current road trip.

“There are just a lot more resources at home, but I don’t want to take time from guys in the training room that are playing,” Donovan said. “That was an important aspect of that as well.”

Meanwhile, Nolan Arenado is expected to join the club in Miami on Tuesday as he continues recovering from a right shoulder strain sustained earlier this month. Arenado has been rehabbing at Spring Training facilities in Jupiter, Florida; his current rehab activities include fielding grounders only with no set timeline for resuming throwing or hitting.

Arenado has not played since August 1 and is batting .235 with an OPS of .660 across 96 games this season.