By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | March 7, 2016, 11:15 pm CT
By Keith Allison / CC Image / No changes made
The St. Louis Cardinals are bracing for confirmation that they’ll start the season with their ninth different Opening Day shortstop in the last ten years after All-Star Jhonny Peralta suffered what the team believes to be a ligament tear in his left thumb, general manager John Mozeliak said before the team’s game on Monday.
After sustaining the injury fielding a foul ball in Saturday’s game against the Marlins, Peralta informed the medical staff of discomfort, and an MRI taken Saturday indicated that the shortstop had suffered a tear in a thumb ligament similar to that of catcher Yadier Molina.
“The medical team feels like right now the news is not going to be good,” Mozeliak said on Fox Sports Midwest (via Brian Stull / STL Baseball Weekly) during the team’s game on Monday. “It looks like the UCL has been compromised. From where we stand, he’ll get one more opinion on it tomorrow [Tuesday] hopefully and then from there, we’ll make a decision what that next step looks like.”
The veteran infielder traveled back to St. Louis to get that second opinion, and the club hopes to have a firm diagnosis by sometime mid-week.
When asked how much time Peralta could miss, the GM estimated an absence of about two to three months.
“I would speculate you’re looking at sometime in the middle of June, end of June when you could expect him to return,” Mozeliak said. “A lot of it is, of course, on how therapy goes but the overall operation itself is not overly complicated.”
Entering the third-year of a four-year, $53 million contract, the 34-year-old Peralta has provided much needed stability at the shortstop in his time wearing the birds on the bat, starting 298 games at the position over the past two seasons while posting a .269/.355/.427 batting line along with 38 home runs and 146 RBIs.
Jedd Gyorko represents the most likely option to see increased playing time in wake of Jhonny Peralta’s thumb injury. By Keith Allison / CC Image / No changes made
After carrying the light-hitting Pete Kozma as their main backup at short for the past few seasons, the Cardinals did make improving their depth at the position a priority this offseason, acquiring infielder Jedd Gyorko from the Padres in a trade that sent long time redbirds outfielder Jon Jay to San Diego. Gyorko, along with Greg Garcia and Aledmys Diaz – who spent last season in the minors – represent in-house options at shortstop, and Mozeliak said the team will wait to receive further word on Peralta before looking outside the organization.
“Right now it would be all hands on deck unless there was an outside solution we would consider,” he said.
“I definitely think Mr. Gyorko gives you more flexibility, especially from an offensive standpoint. And in terms of what we look like, there are always opportunities to get better. Right now we just have to take this information, absorb it, and that will determine what our next steps are over the next week or two.”
Gyorko, who started at shortstop for the Cardinals on Monday, has unquestionable pop in his bat (49 home runs over the last three seasons), but limited experience at shortstop, appearing in just 29 big-league games at the position (28 last season). The 27-year-old was about three to four runs below average at short in 220 innings in 2015, by estimation of Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved, per MLB Trade Rumors.
In contrast, the 26-year-old Garcia has started just over 300 games as a shortstop in the minor leagues, but has hit just ten homers there over the last two seasons and owns a meager .225/.337/.387 batting line in limited big-league at-bats. Power aside, Garcia has been a consistent hitter overall during his time in the minors and is regarded to have a solid glove at the position.
Diaz, now in his third year with the organization, represents another potential option at the position. The 25-year-old, who signed a four-year deal as a free agent in 2014 and has dealt with various injuries in recent years, saw his stock rise after impressive performances at the end of the 2015 minor league season and in the Arizona Fall League. Considered by many to be the club’s eventual successor for Peralta at the position, Diaz will now get a greater chance to show what he can do this spring.
“Diaz is a guy we have seen just bits and pieces of,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We need to see more than what we’ve seen. He looks like an overall different player (than last spring). His arm is healthy. You see more confidence.”
By Keith Allison / CC Image / No changes made
While recognizing Peralta’s injury as a major blow to the team, veterans Matt Holliday and Adam Wainwright told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch, that they’re confident other players will step up and Peralta will return strong.
“It hurts,” Holliday said. “Obviously he’s a really, really good player. But we have guys who are capable. We’ll see what that’s going to look like and who is going to be there every single day.”
“Obviously, we hate losing Jhonny for that long of time,” Wainwright said. “He’s a great person. He’s a great teammate to everybody in here. We’re going to miss him, but he’s going to come back strong.”
After a relatively uneventful preseason thus far, Peralta’s injury has opened the door to a major position battle this spring, adding another level of intrigue to a team that’s looking to reach postseason play for the sixth consecutive year.
