ӣ����Ƶ

Secure the southpaw.

There are fascinating and differing strategies the Cardinals can take with Sunday’s potentially historic moment in franchise history. With the fifth pick in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft — the club’s highest pick since 1998 — the ӣ����Ƶ Cardinals could select the best bat available on the board. That bat might indeed belong to the second-best Oklahoma high school shortstop on the board, a young fellow named Eli Willits. Of course, it’s fun to daydream about the Cardinals’ nabbing Matt’s son Ethan Holliday, but here’s thinking that particular Oklahoma high school shortstop won’t fall past pick No. 4, which belongs to another team that claims Matt as a franchise legend, the Colorado Rockies.

But I believe ӣ����Ƶ should select left-handed hurler Jamie Arnold, the seminal Seminole from Florida State (who could be in the Florida State League later this summer with the Palm Beach Cardinals).

Sure, Willits might prove to be a great ballplayer, even better than his pops (Reggie Willits hit .256 for the Angels from 2006-2011). But Eli Willits is only 17 — he reclassified to make this draft class. You’d have to think the soonest he could reach the majors would be 2027. Also, the Cards don’t traditionally choose high school players in the first round (or even that often).

Oh, and with the way trends are in Major League Baseball, college-bred high draft picks are making the majors quicker than ever before in history. A lot would have to go right, but perhaps Arnold could be the 2026 version of Michael McGreevy — the Cardinals’ “No. 6 starter” who is based in Memphis but just a phone call and full tank of gas away.

It’s crazy to think this way, but in the modern game, a top-10 draft pick can almost serve as a “free agent” get for your club the next season. And ӣ����Ƶ could sure use a sturdy lefty in its rotation, 2026 and beyond.

The 6-foot-1 Arnold is 21 (born March 21, 2004) and hails from Tampa. His breakout year was actually last year — as a sophomore he tallied an 11-3 record and a 2.98 ERA. He struck out 159 batters in 105 2/3 innings, good for a strikeout-per-nine rate of 13.5. Not bad. And so, entering this college season, many mock drafts had him at No. 1. Interestingly, he logged the exact same 2.98 ERA this season, but has dropped in mocks, due to some underlying analytics. Still, as a FSU junior, Arnold went 9-2 with 119 Ks in 84 2/3 innings (12.6 strikeout-per-nine).

In his biggest start, he starred. Florida State needed to win the second game of its 2025 Super Regional to create a winner-goes-to-the-College World Series Game 3. In the win, Arnold only allowed one run to the hosts, Oregon State, in his 6 2/3 innings. He also struck out nine.

According to multiple online scouting reports, Arnold’s fastball sits around 95 mph and can peak at 97 mph. And he throws from a tricky lower arm slot (a la Chris Sale, although Sale is four inches taller than Arnold is).

Arnold’s second pitch is a sweeping slider — as we’ve seen sweepers sweep through Major League Baseball in recent years, notably with ӣ����Ƶ’ Sonny Gray. Arnold throws it around 40% of the time and doesn’t discriminate with lefty or righty hitters.

“I do a good job at manipulating it,” Arnold told MLB Network during the combine. “If I’m facing a lefty, I want that two-plane depth. If I’m facing a righty, first pitch, I try to just front-door it, just almost getting him to take it. When I want that two-plane tilt — backfoot to a righty — I just have a good feel for it. And over the years it’s has gotten better the more I’ve thrown it.”

And Arnold doesn’t walk many batters, which is a trait that will possibly accelerate his rise through any organization. In 2024, he walked 26 guys (for 2.2 walks-per-nine). In 2025, he walked 27 guys (2.9 walks-per-nine). For comparison, Louisiana State’s Kade Anderson, likely the top pitcher in this draft, had a 2.6 walks-per-nine this season.

So, Willits or Arnold?

In recent days, if you didn’t know any better, conversations among Cardinals fans would make you ask: What are you talking about? “Diff’rent Strokes”? (And, yes, Arnold’s brother in the 1980s sitcom was actually named Willis.)

With this fifth pick, there is a high-probability chance at selecting a future starter (even star?) in the lineup or rotation.

I say lock in the lefty.

And there is some symmetry to the last time ӣ����Ƶ selected at No. 5.

In 1998, the Cards chose a Florida State Seminole.

He was, perhaps you recall, JD Drew, who made his debut later that fall (on Sept. 8, 1998, the same game teammate Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run). Drew played for ӣ����Ƶ until 2003 and compiled a .282 batting average with a .875 OPS (perhaps you didn’t realize it was that high). But Drew was often injured and ultimately dealt to Atlanta.

Among the haul, ӣ����Ƶ nabbed ... an early-20s starting pitcher with an amazing breaking ball.

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Although he had not seen exactly how many consecutive innings he logged from when he last gave up a home run, Cardinals reliever Phil Maton did know not a single one of the 142 batters he faced to start this season had taken him deep.

Maton said the streak was one that, as a player, you “don’t look at because as soon as you look at it, something happens.”

The streak dated back to July 12, 2024. It spanned 61 1/3 innings and 65 appearances. But a misplaced cutter in the eighth inning against Braves catcher Sean Murphy snapped it as Murphy lifted a three-run homer that erased a Cardinals lead.

"I think my pitch execution this year has been really good. This is just one of those games today where two pitches were the determining factor in that game," Maton said.

For the Cardinals (50-46), Maton’s outing was one of two in which one of their veteran relievers gave up runs late in a 7-6 loss to Atlanta at Busch Stadium.

After Maton allowed Murphy's homer that turned a 5-3 lead into a 6-5 deficit, the Cardinals loaded the bases with three walks from Braves reliever Daysbel Hernandez. A wild pitch by Hernandez allowed Garrett Hampson, who pinch-ran for Alec Burleson, to score the game’s tying run and the lone run that inning.

The Cardinals turned to their closer, Ryan Helsley, in the ninth inning, but the two-time All-Star allowed a run on two singles. The Braves used a sacrifice bunt, went to the bench to get a pinch-hit single from Drake Baldwin, and scratched across the go-ahead run on a ground out by Jurickson Profar.

“I went back and watched it, and the stuff felt good and I executed where I wanted to for the most part,” Helsley said. “I think hindsight is always 20/20, and stuff like that happens. You wish you would have tried something else. A couple of singles and then a couple of ground balls. I wish one of those would have went to somebody. I could have gotten a double play, but I feel like I threw the ball well. I just wasn't able to get done today.”

To get the lead they eventually lost, the Cardinals received an RBI single from Thomas Saggese and a two-run homer from Nolan Gorman in the second inning. The three-run frame overcame the 3-0 Braves lead powered on homers from Ronald Acuna Jr., Marcell Ozuna, and an RBI from Michael Harris II that all came against Cardinals starter Erick Fedde. Fedde, who allowed 14 total runs in his previous three outings, kept the Braves scoreless through the final 2 2/3 innings of his 4 2/3 innings.

Recalled from the majors on Saturday to provide a fresh bullpen arm, Gordon Graceffo tossed 1 2/3 innings of relief and lefty JoJo Romero completed 2/3 of a scoreless inning as the Cardinals received a go-ahead run on a sixth inning homer from Yohel Pozo and an additional run in the seventh inning on an RBI from All-Star Brendan Donovan.

The Cardinals were without Nolan Arenado (sprained right index finger) and had Lars Nootbaar exit at the start of the sixth inning with discomfort in his left side. Nootbaar's injury is one he's dealt with over the past two weeks and has been reaggravated on check swings.

“I felt like the guys took their best shot," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of his club's offense. "At the end of the day, we've got some guys down and some guys banged up, and we're taking our best shot. Some days it's going to be good enough. Some days it's not. Today it wasn't. But I can't fault them for the way they competed, that's for sure.”

Owning a 1.83 ERA that ranked 10th among National League relievers and 18 holds that tied him for fifth among that same group, Maton began his outing by allowing a double to Profar on a curveball that hung over the middle of the strike zone. He struck out Matt Olson on seven pitches, ending the at-bat with a curveball, and walked Acuna on six pitches that were all located away to the right-handed hitting outfielder.

Maton fell behind Murphy 2-0 before getting a called strike on a sweeper. The righty went to his curveball and saw Murphy yank the breaking pitch down the left field line and off the netting along the wall in foul territory.

The foul ball gave him some thought on what to offer the right-handed hitting catcher. He leaned on his cutter and saw Murphy hit the first homer he's allowed as a Cardinal.

“I think standing here right now, it's easy to say we go back to the curveball and maybe get the swing and miss,” Maton said. “But no, you've got to go after those righties. I already kind of pitched around Acuna a little bit. I have to go after some guys.”

Maton, who signed the lone big-league free agent deal the Cardinals struck before this season, allowed three runs (two earned) in his first 21 appearances at Busch Stadium this season. Before the homer, the 32-year-old was one of six relievers in baseball who faced 140 or more batters this season and had not allowed a homer. The 61 1/3 consecutive innings streak gave him the second-longest active streak in the majors coming into Saturday.

It snapped at 61 2/3 innings and on the 253rd batter he faced since his last homer allowed.

“It's going to happen at some point,” Marmol said. “He's been really good. You've just got to keep moving when something like that happens. This is a guy that's been incredible for us the entire first half. You think about where this team is at without (Maton) and it gets ugly real quick. I trust him a ton. Baseball happens at times. Murphy took a good swing on him. I got no issues with it.”

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After the Cardinals’ ability to load the bases in the eighth inning led to a game-tying run on a wild pitch, their inability to find an offensive answer in the ninth when they once again trailed led to a second consecutive defeat at the hands of the Braves.

The Cardinals went down in order in the ninth inning of a 7-6 loss on Saturday at Busch Stadium after a run allowed by closer Ryan Helsley in the ninth inning put them behind by a run. The Cardinals reached the top of the ninth inning tied following a three-run homer from Sean Murphy off Phil Maton wiped away a 5-3 Cardinals lead and marked the first home run Maton allowed in a year.

Before pinch-runner Garrett Hampson scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the eighth inning, the Cardinals (50-46) produced a three-run second inning highlighted by Nolan Gorman’s two-run homer that helped them claw back to a tied game after starter Erick Fedde allowed three runs in his first two innings. Runs in the sixth and seventh innings on a go-ahead homer by Yohel Pozo and a single from All-Star Brendan Donovan helped build the lead that Murphy would evaporate.

Given another starting shot after allowing 17 runs across 10 innings in his previous three starts, Fedde allowed three runs in his first two innings but managed to keep the Braves scoreless through his next 2 2/3 frames before his exit. Fedde allowed runs on homers from Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna.

The right-hander allowed a leadoff single to Michael Harris II and issued a two-out walk to Matt Olson in an 11-pitch battle that brought Acuna to the plate and Gordon Graceffo, who was recalled to the majors on Saturday, to the mound.

Graceffo struck out Acuna to keep the game tied and provided 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. JoJo Romero provided 2/3 of an inning of scoreless work before Maton entered.

Maton’s streak snaps

The 5-3 lead the Cardinals built themselves heading into the eighth inning on Saturday against the Braves evaporated with the type of swing reliever Maton had not allowed in exactly one year.

Riding a stretch of 61 1/3 innings without giving up a home run entering Saturday, Maton allowed a three-run home run to Murphy with one out in the eighth inning that marked the first homer he had given up since July 12, 2024, and sunk the Cardinals in a 6-5 loss to Atlanta at Busch Stadium.

Before allowing the homer, Maton had gone 65 appearances without allowing a home run. The stretch was the second-longest active streak in the majors at the start of Saturday. Maton was one of six relievers in the majors who faced 140 or more batters without allowing a homer.

Graceffo returns to big spot

Back in the majors for the first time since the final weeks of June, Graceffo’s first outing back in the majors came with traffic already on the bases and one of Atlanta’s top hitters at the plate.

Graceffo, who was recalled Saturday morning to provide innings from the bullpen, was summoned from the bullpen with two outs in the fifth inning, runners on first and second base, and Ronald Acuna Jr. due up in a tied game.

The right-hander needed five pitches to set Acuna down with a strikeout and strand the runners he inherited from Fedde. In the at-bat, Graceffo got a swinging strike of the former National League MVP with a 2-1 slider that touched 88 mph. He followed that with a slider that broke below the strike zone to get Acuna out, swinging.

Graceffo struck out two of the three batters he faced in the sixth inning and got a pop out of Nacho Alvarez Jr. to begin the seventh inning before being lifted for lefty Romero with Braves’ lefties looming.

Fedde’s finish

Across the 2 2/3 innings he held the Braves scoreless through, Fedde induced five groundouts, which included a double play on a grounder from Ozzie Albies in the fourth inning. Three of the five groundouts came on cutters.

A cutter to begin his encounter with Fedde in the fourth inning was hammered into the ground by the switch-hitting Braves second baseman. The ground ball was fielded at the first base bag by Willson Contreras, who stepped on the base and chased down Ozuna for an unassisted double play.

When he fell behind in the count, 2-1 to Acuna, Fedde got the star outfielder to whiff on a cutter thrown away and at the knees, then got him to chase a cutter out of the strike zone for a groundout to shortstop Masyn Winn.

Nootbaar makes early exit

Lars Nootbaar exited from Saturday’s game at the start of the sixth inning because of left side discomfort, the Cardinals said. He was replaced on defense in left field by Jose Fermin.

The injury that forced Nootbaar to an early exit on Saturday forced him to exit early on Thursday for what he said was a precaution and kept him limited near the end of June. The injury is one that has said to flare up with Nootbaar after check swing during his at-bat.

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Braves 7, Cardinals 6

Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Profar lf 5 1 1 1 0 1 .241

Olson 1b 4 0 0 0 1 1 .260

Acuña rf 3 2 1 1 1 1 .333

Murphy c 4 1 1 3 0 1 .236

Ozuna dh 4 1 2 1 0 1 .239

Albies 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .219

Alvarez 3b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .500

Harris cf 3 0 1 1 0 0 .207

Allen ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .237

Baldwin ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .285

Totals 34 7 10 7 2 6

ӣ����Ƶ AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Donovan 2b 4 0 2 1 1 1 .297

Winn ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 .255

Contreras 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .253

Burleson rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .289

Hampson pr-rf 0 1 0 0 0 0 .176

Pozo c 4 2 2 1 0 1 .312

Nootbaar lf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .227

Fermín lf 1 0 0 0 1 0 .429

Saggese 3b 3 1 1 1 1 1 .244

Gorman dh 4 2 2 2 0 2 .219

Scott cf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .234

Totals 33 6 7 5 4 12

Atlanta 120 000 031 — 7 10 0

ӣ����Ƶ 030 001 110 — 6 7 0

LOB: Atlanta 4, ӣ����Ƶ 5. 2B: Profar (4), Pozo (6). HR: Acuña (12), off Fedde; Ozuna (13), off Fedde; Murphy (16), off Maton; Gorman (9), off Bummer; Pozo (4), off Montero. RBIs: Acuña (22), Ozuna (42), Harris (44), Murphy 3 (38), Profar (7), Saggese (10), Gorman 2 (29), Pozo (14), Donovan (36). SB: Hampson (1). S: Allen, Harris, Scott. DP: ӣ����Ƶ 1.

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Bummer 2 4 3 3 0 1 3.89

Wentz 3 0 0 0 1 6 0.00

Montero 1 1 1 1 0 1 3.90

Lee 1 2 1 1 0 1 2.55

Hernández, W 4-1 1 0 1 1 3 2 2.10

Iglesias, S, 11-15 1 0 0 0 0 1 4.42

ӣ����Ƶ IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Fedde 42/3 6 3 3 1 1 4.83

Graceffo 12/3 0 0 0 0 3 6.05

Romero 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 2.45

Maton 1 2 3 3 1 1 2.55

Helsley, L, 3-1 1 2 1 1 0 0 3.38

Inherited runners-scored: Graceffo 2-0. WP: Lee, Hernández. T: 2:35. Att.: 31,807.

As he went through spring training earlier this year, Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore treated his build-up with the possibility of being used as a starter.

The lefty who had been used primarily out of the bullpen in 2024 said that approach would make it easier to downshift his workload rather than needing to build it up if a rotational role awaited him. When one did and Liberatore, a starter through his path in the minors, was announced as a member of the Cardinals’ opening day rotation, his preparation allowed him a smoother transition into what has been a lesson-filled first half of the season.

“I think there are a lot of things that I did well in this first half, and I also think there are some things that I didn’t do so well in this first half, especially towards the end here,” Liberatore said on Saturday morning after making his final start before the All-Star break. “I think I’ve learned a lot, and there’s still a lot of room to grow and a lot of things to still learn.”

In a first half that marked his first full first half as a big-league rotation piece, the 25-year-old Liberatore went 6-7 with a 4.13 ERA in 100 1/3 innings across 18 starts. He’ll head into the second half with a workload that has already exceeded the innings total he had in 60 games (six starts) a season ago.

He ended his first half with a Friday start vs. the Braves at Busch Stadium during which he tossed a season-low in innings with three and allowed six runs in a 6-5 loss. The start against the Braves capped an eight-game stretch during which Liberatore had a 6.15 ERA. Before that, the lefty held a 2.73 ERA in 10 games to begin the season.

Heading into the break following a loss to Atlanta, Liberatore said the time off gives him a chance to “reflect” on his work and “audit” his routines and “processes” after experiencing a first half with a solidified rotation spot for the first time in his big-league career.

“I think it’s just really allowed me to dive deep into the routines and what it takes to be ready every fifth or sixth day to make a start,” Liberatore said of holding a steady role. “Seeing how hitters adjust to me and what adjustments I need to make in return to that. Physically, I like how my body has responded to certain things and hasn’t responded to other things. It’s just kind of a trial and error of what works and what doesn’t.”

Despite heading into the break following a rough outing against the Braves, Liberatore carries some noticeable strides into his second half.

Through 18 starts, Liberatore walked 5.2% of the batters he faced. As of Sunday, he ranked within the top 10 of qualified major league pitchers in walk rate. The walk rate is a 2.6% decrease from a season ago and the lowest he’s held in any of the four seasons he’s pitched in the majors. The lefty’s 31.3% chase rate represented a 3.4% increase from 2024 and ranked within the top 19% of qualified major league arms.

The areas of improvement give him a stepping stone coming out of the break.

“I’m walking fewer guys than I’ve ever walked before. Two of my last three outings, I didn’t attack the zone the way that I normally do, but the majority of my starts this year, I’ve just been going after guys and really trusting my stuff in the zone, and that’s definitely something I want to carry into the second half.”

Arenado’s absence

Third baseman Nolan Arenado was absent from the Cardinals’ starting lineup Saturday following his early exit on Friday night because of a sprained right index finger. The injured finger forced Arenado to leave the Cardinals’ loss to the Braves in the seventh inning and made throwing difficult.

Before Saturday’s day game, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said he was awaiting a meeting with the club’s medical staff to further discuss Arenado’s injury and if they were “at a point where it makes sense to just give him the six days” off.

Arenado sustained the injury in the final game of his team’s road trip to Cleveland during the final weekend of June. It caused him to miss games in Pittsburgh. It led to a shoulder ailment that kept Arenado limited last weekend at Wrigley Field and earlier this week after he tried to compensate for the injured finger by using a different grip to swing a bat.

Graceffo recalled, Svanson optioned

Looking for a fresh arm in the bullpen after Riley O’Brien (two innings) and Matt Svanson (2 2/3 innings) both provided scoreless relief efforts, the Cardinals recalled right-handed reliever Gordon Graceffo from Class AAA Memphis. Svanson was optioned in a corresponding move.

“Having a fresh arm that can give you multiples was needed,” Marmol said. “Unfortunately, it has to come at Svanson’s expense, because he’s done a really nice job. I’ve grown to trust his outings.”

During his 2 2/3 scoreless innings, Svanson kept the Braves to no hits, no walks, and notched three strikeouts on 34 pitches. It matched the longest outing in the majors since making his debut earlier this season and lowered his ERA to 3.1226 innings and WHIP to 0.81 WHIP in 17 games.

Svanson’s work in relief came after O’Brien struck out four batters and worked around two hits and a walk in the fifth inning to keep the Cardinals within striking distance of Atlanta.

“They did a tremendous job,” Marmol said Friday night to reporters of Friday’s relief work.

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The return of pain in his finger that disrupts his ability to “let it eat” offensively and contributed to limitations elsewhere defensively forced Nolan Arenado from Friday night’s game and the Cardinals to weigh whether his All-Star break should begin two days early.

Arenado hit a pitch off the end of the bat and that irritated the sprained right index figure that kept him out of two games during the recent road trip. Concerned the pain might alter his throwing and lead to issues in his arm, Arenado left in the seventh inning Friday.

“It’s kind of hard to let it, like really let go,” Arenado said of how the injury influenced his swing. “But when I really want to let it eat, my body is not letting me do it. Feels like a little bit of pain. I can’t play like that. I’m not playing well enough.”

The Cardinals are going to decide Arenado’s return based on how he feels early Saturday morning ahead of the 1:15 p.m. first pitch. A stint at designated hitter is one possibility — and so is taking two games off and getting six days to rest, recover, and calm the finger.

Arenado said he had a deeper scan taken of the joint to see if there was any damage or unseen fractures in it, and that MRI came back encouraging. He first injured the finger in Cleveland, the first stop of a recent three-city road trip, and that cost him two games against the Pirates. He returned to finish the road trip before feeling irritation near his right shoulder that he traces back to compensating for the finger pain. Pain or weakness in the finger can make it difficult to grip a bat and impossible to throw a baseball — with force or accuracy.

“I’ve never dealt with something like this this,” Arenado said late Friday night in the clubhouse. “My finger hurts and it’s kind of irritating everything else. It is something I usually haven’t dealt with. I’m trying to figure it out a little bit. Maybe rest. Go from there.”

Arenado said he felt the pain creeping into his throwing and he was concerned about causing an injury to his arm, telling his manager, “I can’t push through it right now.”

Arenado’s injury adds to a lineup already limping into next week’s break.

Ivan Herrera (hamstring) had three hits Saturday night but for Class AAA Memphis as he nears a return from injury. Jordan Walker (appendicitis) homered Thursday night for Class AA Springfield while on a rehab assignment there. Lars Nootbaar (ribcage) left Thursday’s game with some soreness but returned Friday and is managing the injury through the final innings before the All-Star break, as is Brendan Donovan (toe) and Alec Burleson — each of whom is playing with some discomfort.

“We’re beat up,” manager Oliver Marmol said.

The lack of depth — and, in some cases, lack of thump — in the lineup contributed to the Cardinals falling just shy in their comeback attempt Friday against Atlanta at Busch Stadium. Matthew Liberatore struggled as the Braves tagged him for three runs in the first, one in the second, and two more in his third inning. The lefty allowed six total and did not strike out a batter in three innings. The Cardinals answered with rallies of their own to tighten the game to a one-run deficit after three innings and both starters’ departures. At one point, the teams combined for more hits (18) than they did outs (17). And then it sat as both bullpens pitched shutouts for the final six innings of the Cardinals’ 6-5 loss.

Burleson contributed a double to each of the Cardinals’ rallies, and in the third inning Pedro Pages lifted a two-run single to right field took the biggest chomp out of Atlanta’s early lead. Victor Scott II followed with an RBI single that scored the Cardinals’ fifth run and trimmed the lead down to a run.

From there, the offense generated opportunities, not runs.

The Cardinals went 5 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and the inability to tie the game despite gifts of an error and walks in the final six innings came down to a lack of the big hit and a lack of execution in the big spot. Scott put himself at the nexus of all of it. He had the two-out RBI single in the third for a key run. He threw a runner out at the plate to end the third inning. And in the eighth, just after the Cardinals squandered two baserunners with no outs, Scott earned a one-out to get the inning around to the top of the Cardinals lineup.

If he could steal second — he really had to steal second — a base hit would bring him home as the tying run, and he got his lead.

But he was picked off.

“Very 50-50 moment,” he said. “That’s not going to tone down my aggressiveness because that is my game.”

There were other moments throughout the game Marmol referred to as teachable. The Cardinals did not advance a runner in the seventh inning after getting two on to open it. In the fourth, an error put a runner in scoring position to open the inning, and two flyouts nixed that as a scoring chance for the tying run.

“There’s a lot to learn from this game for our hitters,” Marmol said. “We’ll take this one and you can break it down a lot of different ways making sure this isn’t a wasted opportunity. It’s a frustrating loss but there are a lot of at-bats that we’ll end up doing our review with and making sure that we really dive into it. There’s some growth there, for sure.”

Arenado led off the second with a single and was the lead runner as the Cardinals loaded the bases with one out. Scott made that possible by outrun a grounder to fill the bases. The next two Cardinals, the two at the top of the lineup, flew out to end the inning.

In four separate innings, the Cardinals got a runner on base with one or fewer outs and failed to advance that runner with the second out of the inning.

And one time the runner was picked off for that out.

“Being able to move runners,” Marmol said. “The style of at-bats. How we want to miss if we do miss. So, there’s some good conversations that will come out of this one. More than in most games.”

But first is the one with Arenado on how he recovers by Saturday.

If a stint on the injury list is necessary, he’ll miss the first series returning from the break. If two days would help him, the Cardinals were willing to play short for the same amount of time in Pittsburgh and that would get him to the four-day break next week. Arenado agreed getting the break will be helpful, and the question becomes if he can contribute in the two days remaining before he, the Cardinals, and Major League Baseball get to it. Marmol was asked if utilizing the break has to be considered.

“If he was a normal human, yes,” Marmol said. “But he likes to play baseball. We’ll see how he comes in (Saturday) and then make a decision.”

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SECOND GAME

Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Kwan lf 5 1 1 0 1 0 .287

Jones rf-cf 5 1 2 0 1 2 .233

Ramírez dh 4 1 1 2 1 0 .297

Manzardo 1b 5 0 1 0 1 0 .215

Martínez cf-2b 5 0 1 1 0 2 .242

Schneemn 2b-3b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .214

W.Wilson 3b 3 0 0 0 1 3 .159

Santana ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .230

Naylor c 4 0 0 0 1 0 .174

Rocchio ss 5 0 1 1 0 2 .183

Totals 40 4 8 4 7 10

Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Tauchman rf 4 1 1 1 2 1 .292

Sosa 2b 4 2 2 2 1 1 .272

Benintendi dh 4 0 0 0 1 1 .218

Vargas 1b 3 0 1 1 1 0 .219

Teel c 3 1 0 0 1 1 .234

Robert cf 4 0 1 0 1 1 .188

Montgomery ss 3 1 1 0 2 0 .318

Rojas 3b 3 0 0 1 0 2 .179

Meidroth ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 .248

Robertson lf 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Slater ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .224

Quero ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .269

M.Taylor pr-lf 0 0 0 0 1 0 .221

Totals 31 5 6 5 11 9

Cleveland 002 001 100 00 — 4 8 1

Chicago 101 010 010 01 — 5 6 0

One out when winning run scored.

E: Schneemann (2). LOB: Cleveland 14, Chicago 12. 2B: Schneemann (9), Rocchio (7), Martínez (15). 3B: Jones (2). HR: Ramírez (18), off Cannon; Sosa 2 (9), off Williams. RBIs: Ramírez 2 (47), Rocchio (12), Martínez (33), Sosa 2 (31), Vargas (35), Rojas (9), Tauchman (19). SB: Ramírez (26), Schneemann (6), Santana (6). SF: Vargas, Rojas. S: Teel, Meidroth. DP: Cleveland 2; Chicago 1.

Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Williams 5 4 3 3 5 5 3.70

Sabrowski 12/3 0 0 0 2 1 1.42

Festa 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 5.19

Sewald 2/3 1 1 0 2 0 4.70

Enright 11/3 0 0 0 0 3 1.88

Allard, L, 2-1 11/3 1 1 0 2 0 2.45

Chicago IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Cannon 5 3 2 2 3 5 4.44

Leasure 2/3 2 1 1 1 0 4.36

Gilbert 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 3.20

G.Taylor 1 3 1 1 0 2 4.40

Eisert 1 0 0 0 0 1 4.81

Vasil, W, 4-3 3 0 0 0 3 2 2.47

Inherited runners-scored: Sabrowski 1-0, Festa 1-0, Enright 2-0, Gilbert 2-0. IBB: off Cannon (Ramírez), off Allard (Robert), off Allard (M.Taylor). HBP: Cannon (Schneemann), Vasil (Ramírez). WP: Vasil. PB: Teel 2(4). T: 3:40. Att.: 25,084.

Before Ivan Herrera left for his rehab assignment this weekend at Class AAA Memphis, the Cardinals had the former catching prospect briefly explore the position farthest from home plate.

An outfield glove could be a fit to keep his bat in the lineup.

Herrera continued his rehab assignment Friday night with the Triple-A Redbirds, and he’ll appear at designated hitter all weekend in the minors and most often when he returns to the major leagues after the All-Star break. But to keep from limiting him to DH for the remainder of the season and landlocking the lineup so others do not get DH starts, the Cardinals gave Herrera some introductory workouts in the outfield. They sought to gauge his comfort and assure he would not risk another injury to his leg.

“We’re going to see what that looks like,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “We know catching is a stressor. We want to do whatever allows him to stay healthy all the way through, and if we feel at any point that it’s strictly DH, then it’s well worth it to keep his bat in the lineup and give him days off when we need the flexibility of moving someone into that spot than stressing (the leg) and him missing more time. That’s the way we’re looking at it.”

One of the most potent bats the Cardinals have had this season when he’s in the lineup, Herrera will resume the season with a .320 average, a .533 slugging percentage, and a .925 OPS. He’s gone on the injured list twice with a leg injury, and most recently had a slight tear in his hamstring on June 20. The Cardinals do not expect him to catch much — if at all — in the second half of the season because of the concern for his leg.

That has a ripple effect for who plays elsewhere in the lineup.

With Herrera at DH that limits starts for Nolan Gorman or Alec Burleson, and that puts Burleson in the outfield, which likely shifts Gorman and Jordan Walker, when he returns from the IL, the bench. If Herrera plays outfield some, that gives the Cardinals the DH to buy a break for Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras or fit one of the other young hitters into the DH spot. Walker (appendicitis) remains on his rehab assignment with Class AA Springfield with no specific timetable for his return — and no guarantee what role he’ll have when he does.

“It will complicate things, but it’s no different than when we had everybody healthy,” Marmol said. “We had to have some kind of rotation to keep guys fresh, but also locked in. It’s part of it. And we’ll navigate it. It won’t be the first time we’ve had to navigate that. We’ll get back to it.”

Current back-benchers Jose Fermin and Thomas Saggese are also going to get more time in the outfield during workouts and possibly games. Fermin has played in the outfield for Class AAA Memphis, and at some point the expectation is Saggese will as well. Saggese has been taking fly balls in the outfield during drills and batting practice. Marmol suggested Friday that Saggese, a right-handed bat and usual middle infielder, could get innings in center field to see how comfortable he is there to further increase his versatility.

“Exploring that with him should be a real option,” Marmol said.

The Cardinals lean left when it comes to their current and usual options in the outfield with four left-handed batters usually getting the starts: Lars Nootbaar, Burleson, Victor Scott II, and their All-Star Game representative, Brendan Donovan. Walker began the season as the right-handed bat that would get priority playing time in right field. Burleson’s production has shifted that plan to fit his bat in the lineup, and Walker has missed more than a month due to a wrist injury earlier and his recovery from appendicitis.

The appeal for an additional right-handed bat in the lineup is obvious as the Cardinals have lost six of the past seven games started by a lefty (not including an opener). Since Herrera went on the IL, the Cardinals have the lowest batting average (.178) and the lowest slugging percentage (.260) against lefties. Those lefty starters have a 1.08 ERA against the Cardinals in 41 2/3 innings. Three of the five runs they’ve allowed came on one swing — a homer by Gorman.

The Cardinals do not expect Herrera to spend any time, even BP, in the outfield while with the Redbirds this weekend, and it’s possible he only works in the outfield with coach Jon Jay in the coming months and does not see any innings there in a game. They just want to be open to trying him out.

“That’s something we can target once he’s here,” Marmol said. “See if it’s an actual option.”

Nootbaar returns, managing injury

Removed from Thursday’s game in the late innings as a precautionary move as he plays through soreness in his ribcage, Lars Nootbaar returned as advertised to the lineup Friday. The outfielder received treatment for a strained intercostal, and he has been managing the injury for several weeks to avoid aggravating or intensifying it. Nootbaar hit .169 in June with a .299 slugging percentage, and since returning from treatment he’s had an uptick to slugging .444 with a .259 average in his previous eight games.

La Russa promotes ‘champions’ event

Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa is in town this weekend ahead of his fundraising event Wednesday to promote a night of stories from Cardinals champions. In Stifel Theater at 6:45 p.m. ӣ����Ƶ time, Joe Buck will moderate interviews with a collection of former Cardinals that is expected to include World Series MVPs David Eckstein and David Freese along with Rick Ankiel, Will Clark, Matt Morris, Jason Isringhausen, Mike Matheny, Matt Morris, Reggie Sanders, Mike Matheny and Jim Edmonds among others.

The evening will also include a tribute to Walt Jocketty, the architect of the Cardinals’ World Series winner in 2006 and pennant-winner in 2004.

La Russa will be in Ballpark Village before each game this weekend as part of the pregame events, and he’ll attend games at Cunningham Corner in Busch Stadium — on the second level, down the third-base line — to sell tickets without the service charge and be available for autographs. The program supports his new charity that supports animal rescues, La Russa Rescue Champions, and the PenFed Foundation.

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Longtime and loyal Cardinals fans certainly understand the concept of a team at-bat. Some at-bats belong to the individual player, but others are dictated by the situation and what potentially puts the team in the best position for success — moving the runner, getting the run in, etc.

If there’s a managerial equivalent to a team at-bat, it’s what Cardinals skipper Oliver Marmol did Thursday afternoon when he announced that badly struggling will take his turn in the rotation against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium despite dreadful recent results and the club’s quest to continue surpassing expectations and continue chasing a playoff spot.

“We’re going to give him another shot at it,” Marmol said with only slightly more enthusiasm than you’d expect from a hostage video.

Clearly, Marmol’s reticence was not an indictment of Fedde, the person. It reflected the predicament created by Fedde’s lackluster recent performance.

Marmol fought off follow-up questions from behind his desk in the manager’s office at Busch Stadium like a batter fouling off pitches. Instead of a bat, he was armed with a can of sparkling coconut water energy drink.

“Fedde’s going to start on Saturday,” Marmol said. “And my hope is that we can get on the other side of what his last couple outings have looked like.”

In case you forgot how things went in Fedde’s recent outings — and lucky you, if you did — he’d allowed twice as many home runs (four) as he had strikeouts (two) in his previous three starts. He also walked nine batters and posted an ERA of 15.30.

During that span, opposing batters scored 17 earned runs, logged a hard-hit percentage of 58.7% and posted a batting average against Fedde (.417) that would make Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn blush.

To be fair, it hadn’t been that way all season. Fedde has had moments, such as a shutout on the road against his former team the Washington Nationals in May, but even prior to that outing he’d already been battling inconsistency with his pitch shapes and movement that left him extremely vulnerable.

Fedde hits free agency after this season. If he’s able to piece together some representative outings, perhaps he’ll have some appeal as a rental option to teams in need of starting pitching help to get through the summer.

Of course, Fedde must pitch in order to have any chance to establish trade value. That means he gets the ball again, even if that lessens the likelihood of a win and increases the likelihood of putting the bullpen at risk of having to cover six of the nine innings Saturday.

So instead of coming up with a phantom injury for Fedde or pulling whatever shenanigans necessary to skip his turn in the rotation and give it to somebody like , who Marmol has previously admitted belongs in the big leagues, Marmol will send Fedde back out to the mound.

Presumably, this is all about the club giving itself the possibility of recouping any player with a fraction of a chance of contributing to the club in the future in exchange for Fedde.

In recent days as the questions persisted about Fedde, Marmol said there were ongoing discussions to be had before he would announce the plans for Saturday.

The clear implication being that the decision was going to be made by a group of people that included the front office, not just the manager and his coaching staff.

There’s a bigger picture at play, and more than just Marmol’s input has been taken into consideration.

“No doubt about it,” Marmol said to an assembled group of writers Thursday. “That’s why I said there’s more conversation to be had when you guys asked me a couple days ago and then yesterday, because there are other variables that play into this other than just performance.”

That’s where this scenario becomes treacherous for Marmol.

Marmol is the face of this organizational decision, the one answering questions. Common sense and competitive nature tells us he’s hard-wired to give his team the best chance to win every game.

However, Marmol also knows it’s his job to protect his player — not throw him under the bus — and also serve as a shield for the front office from time to time. It’s part of the gig that comes with the office he occupies.

But it does harken back to comments president of baseball operations John Mozeliak made during spring training while seated at a metal table on the patio outside the major league clubhouse at the club’s training complex in Jupiter, Florida.

At that time, Mozeliak described the careful balancing act Marmol would have to perform this season. The manager has been charged with making sure the club provided runway and allowed guys to play through their ups and downs while also being responsible for wins and losses.

The most immediately relevant part of Mozeliak’s March comments are when he said, “The resources that are provided to (Marmol) — the depth that’s provided to him — is not something that he can go out and provide on his own. So he has to play the hand he’s dealt.

“But having the mindset that, yes, he’s going to try to make sure that all these young guys get at-bats. Even if some guys are struggling, they’re still going to get playing time. But he can’t lose his clubhouse either by not trying to win.”

Let that last part sink in, “He can’t lose the clubhouse by not trying to win.”

The front office can let Marmol wear this Fedde decision publicly, but there’s got to be some awareness that they can’t cast Marmol, within the clubhouse, as the sole culprit behind an edict that compromises the team’s ability to win.

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Now that we’ve gotten 11 days into July, we can credibly say we’re approaching the July 31 Major League Baseball trading deadline. That makes this a perfect time to put on the metaphorical bow tie and assume the responsibilities of Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak as he prepares to steer the franchise through the trade deadline for the final time.

The big chair remains his for a few more months. This season is still a Mozeliak production. The results will go on his career dossier.

That said, don’t turn this into a “legacy” conversation. That’s more fallacy than legacy. Mozeliak’s total tenure with the organization spans 30 years — one trade deadline isn’t forever altering anyone’s perception.

So there’s only one question that any baseball fan has for a front office at this time of year: buy or sell?

This will be thoroughly unsatisfactory to most Cardinals fans, but the Cardinals can’t fully be buyers or sellers.

Their players best suited for the trade market will also be the ones most likely to tank the club’s season if they depart for greener pastures.

At this point, with the playoffs still within reach, it’s too late for the Cardinals to change directions and make the rest of this season about 2026 and beyond.

Two caveats.

One: If you’re able to line up a trade that allows you to deal from an area of organizational strength (perhaps one of the catching prospects) and get major league-caliber starting pitching with years of control left remaining, do the deal.

Two: If you find someone willing to take Erick Fedde off your hands, agree and hang up the phone before they change their mind.

Realistically, any club scouring the Cardinals roster for pitchers capable of helping in a regular-season playoff push likely lands on two-time All-Star closer Ryan Helsley, veteran reliever Phil Maton and veteran left-handed starter-turned-reliever Steven Matz (all come with the added bonus of not carrying any long-term contractual commitment).

Theoretically, you could throw veteran starter Sonny Gray into that mix. He’d provide a shot in the arm to a rotation in need, but he’s also got another year remaining on his deal before the club option year in 2027. Oh yeah, and Gray doesn’t have to go anywhere because he’s got the right to veto any trade.

So why not pull the trigger and get the most you can for Helsley, Maton and Matz?

If you take Helsley, Maton and Matz out of the current bullpen, you might bolster the farm system, but this season effectively ends right then.

Entering Thursday, the Cardinals had gone 24-17 in games decided by two runs or fewer. They’d gone 40-1 in games when they’ve lead through seven innings.

And who have the Cardinals repeatedly leaned on to get them through tight games? You guessed it.

In late and close situations Helsley (17 appearances), Maton (14 appearances) and Matz (10 appearances) are three of the club’s five most-used pitchers along with left-hander JoJo Romero (17 appearances) and Kyle Leahy (16 appearances).

Maton, who boasts a strikeout rate of 11.65 per nine innings, entered the day tied for the sixth-most holds in the majors (18).

Of Matz’s 24 relief appearances, he pitched more than one inning in 17 of those outings. Matz has provided flexibility — pitching in high leverage and/or providing length — and often saved the Cardinals from having to use multiple relievers and hamstringing the bullpen for subsequent games.

Not only have Helsley, Maton and Matz been three of the most effective and valuable relievers, but their presence — along with Romero — has allowed the Cardinals to cycle through inexperienced and unproven relievers such as Riley O’Brien, Gordon Graceffo, Matt Svanson, Chris Roycroft, Roddery Munoz, Andre Granillo and Leahy in lower-leverage situations.

That’s setting aside any role a veteran like Maton might have as far as showing the newcomers the way.

“I knew we were getting a guy that knew how to get outs,” Marmol said. “I knew we were getting a guy that can lead well. He has done 10 times more than I expected when it comes to that clubhouse and the way he can talk to other pitchers and give them, in very simple ways, his thoughts on usage or how he prepares for opposition or how he looks at a lineup, how he looks at navigating tough at-bats, opposite handedness.

“He’s really good, and it’s awesome to have a player that’s calm enough and secure in who he is enough to see the rest of the game and not just worry about himself.”

Asking Romero, Leahy and the rest of the group to carry the burden without the safety net of Helsley, Maton and Matz means you’re treating the final two months of this season like the final two months of 2023.

You remember. The evaluation period. Giving opportunity. Seeing what they’ve got. Gathering important data points for future decisions.

And, of course, losing. They went 24-31 down the stretch in 2023.

If it were just an academic exercise or a computer program, then sure, you could simply write off the final couple of months of games this season as a necessary evil. In that case, it’d just be numbers. Math is math no matter what.

However, at some point in the real world, the Cardinals need to win. That is if they truly believe in fostering a winning culture, developing a winning team and not just running a major league skills camp.

If you think guys like Brendan Donovan, Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Victor Scott, Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante and the rest of the core group have a chance to be part of winning teams, contending teams, then at some point they need to play meaningful games. You can’t keep kicking the can down the road.

If the focus at this deadline is solely on adding whatever you can to the organization, then it comes at the cost of wasting another year of the current core group’s time in the big leagues.

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With the fifth pick in the 2025 Major League Baseball draft, the ӣ����Ƶ Cardinals select a player they’ve so rarely had a chance to pick in their history and could help shape the organization for the decade to come.

If not sooner.

Due to the fortuitous bounce of a lottery ball, the Cardinals scored the No. 5 pick in Sunday’s draft, and regardless of the outcome, it will be a seminal one for the club. Assistant general manager Randy Flores, leading the team’s scouting and draft preparation for the 10th year, called the pick “unprecedented.” For the first time since 1998, the Cardinals pick as high as No. 5, and for the first time in the six decades of the draft, they have top 10 picks in back-to-back drafts after selecting JJ Wetherholt at No. 7 overall a year ago.

This pick will also bridge two eras — it will be final first-round pick with John Mozeliak as president of baseball operations and the first to enter as Chaim Bloom’s group leads development and he takes over later this season as president of baseball operation.

This past year’s draft has already produced five players who reached the major leagues, and the Cardinals’ pick, Wetherholt, homered in his Class AAA debut Wednesday. The fifth overall pick this season will present the Cardinals a choice between a pitcher with college polish who could move fast and younger players with high ceilings who will take longer to arrive. During a lunchtime conversation Thursday between his meetings with scouts in ӣ����Ƶ, the Post-Dispatch asked Flores if a team’s view of how soon it can contend influences the selection.

“I think that the amateur draft in baseball is so much different than basketball and football in the success rates in hits on those picks that it makes pretending that you know the impact (or) the precise proximity and you’re able to predict the injures — it’s too many variables,” Flores said. “To pretend, you risk overweighing it in your decision. It’s different than someone at No. 2 who is picking a quarterback in the NFL and you already have a starting quarterback. I don’t think baseball is there yet.”

The Cardinals can count on one of the top college pitchers being available at No. 5, and it is likely that the second-rated prep infielder and college infielder will be there for the picking, too. Three years after his oldest son, Jackson, was the first overall pick, Cardinals Hall of Famer Matt Holliday’s younger son, Ethan, is Baseball America’s prep player of the year, a power-packed infielder and a possible No. 1 overall pick. It is difficult to see a scenario where he gets past the Colorado Rockies at No. 4.

If he does, the Cardinals are waiting.

Otherwise, at least one of the top college lefties Kade Anderson (LSU), Liam Doyle (Tennessee) and Jamie Arnold (Florida State) is likely to be on the board. Arnold is considered a swift mover who could help a team as soon as 2026. Also likely to be available and assuredly of interest to the Cardinals is Oklahoma prep standout Eli Willits, former big leaguer Reggie’s son. The shortstop is one of the youngest players in the draft, and that has appealed to the Cardinals with past picks.

Other established college players, pitcher Kyson Witherspoon (Oklahoma) and shortstop Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas), are projected as first-round picks in that Nos. 5-15 range. Auburn's Ike Irish has draw the Cardinals' attention in that same range.

Flores said he did not want to enter the meetings this week focused on five names and ordering them — certain they would get one of them. He wanted to start with a list twice that size to narrow it down and “make sure that we’re convicted at the top half of that board.”

Proximity to the majors is a consideration but not a driving one, he said.

“It’s not the thing that leads the discussion,” Flores said. “It’s part of it. In general, we’re trying as best as possible to evaluate the player’s career — which is impossible, but we’re trying to do so. This is a game of longevity and so you try to measure an attempt to evaluate the chance of this player having a successful career. That leads it. ... I think any time you lean too far one way on proximity, you miss out on chances like Jackson Holliday or other high school picks who have excelled, including some of our own.”

When last the Cardinals had the fifth overall pick, they helped change the draft by picking J. D. Drew and signing him to a record bonus in 1998. Drew debuted later that same year and in 2003 was part of a trade that brought back Adam Wainwright, who won 200 games for the Cardinals and helped define pitching in ӣ����Ƶ for more than a decade.

It was a transformative pick for the Cardinals.

In 18 years, from 2004 to 2021, the fifth overall pick produced a player who reached the majors 17 times. A dozen of those 17 were position players — suggesting how rare surefire hitting talent is and also how few times the Cardinals have had access to it.

“A lot of pitching is development,” said Flores, a World Series champion with the Cardinals as a lefty reliever. “You see pitchers who change drastically with increases in velo(city). You see pitchers who change drastically with changes in arsenal. You see pitchers who change drastically with changes in usage. You see growth or different arm angles. Pitching success — long-term pitching success — can happen from a lot of spots. Hitting a baseball is so difficult that I think it is less likely to have long-term, tremendous hits the further away you get from the top of the draft.”

The Cardinals enter the draft with the seventh-highest bonus purse, at $14,238,300. The slot value for No. 5 is $8,134,800, positioning them to surpass last year’s club record bonus of $6.9 million. Last year, the Cardinals had the seventh overall selection and did not pick again until No. 80. This year, they’ll have four picks on the first day of the two-day draft: Nos. 5, 55, 72 and 89. That gives them some flexibility to be strategic with their spending and aim for over-slot offers in rounds outside the first or second.

In the 13 drafts with a bonus limit, the Cardinals are one of four teams to spend beyond it every year and pay the tax for an overage of 5% or less.

“What I read is the top five, six, seven or eight are unsettled, and I bet someone would ask me, ‘Are you unsettled by that?’” Flores said. “I think it’s actually an opportunity. If the board was set on the top four — like dead-set — maybe we would be like, ‘Oh, I wish we were in that top four.’ But I think the unsettledness provides us an opportunity to have our board different than another team’s board and hope that we’re on the right side of it.”

Fedde gets ‘another shot at it’

After a week of discussions within the baseball operations group, the Cardinals chose to remain with their current rotation, as scheduled, and start Erick Fedde on Saturday despite the right-hander’s run of turbulent starts. The decision goes beyond the results on the mound, manager Oliver Marmol agreed when asked Thursday afternoon.

Fedde had an abbreviated four-out start Sunday night at Wrigley Field and allowed three runs and six base runners. In his past three starts he’s allowed 17 runs, and the veteran right-hander is winless in his previous 10 starts. Over that time, he’s struggled with his sinker and cutter, and the lack of familiar fastball has left him vulnerable to walks and damage. His ERA has climbed by a run in his past three starts, and he’s allowed 53 hits, 24 walks and 78 base runners in his past 47 1/3 innings.

The decision to start Fedde relates to the team’s plans at the trade deadline and the possible attempt to generate interest him ahead of a move to create a spot in the rotation for a prospect, right-hander Michael McGreevy.

“We’re going to give him another shot at it,” Marmol said of Fedde. “My hope is that we can get on the other side of (what) his last couple of outings have looked like.”

No catch to Herrera’s return

Ivan Herrera (hamstring) began his rehab assignment Thursday with Class AAA Memphis, and the plan is for the right-handed hitter to spend the weekend as designated hitter for the Redbirds and not catch at all during his rehab assignment. If he catches at all in the second half of the season, it will be limited after two leg injuries this season, Marmol said. That puts Herrera and his .320 average and .925 on-base plus slugging percentage at DH most of the time in the second half.

The Cardinals will decide on Herrera’s availability coming out of the break based on his first two games with the Redbirds. He may be able to find at-bats at the team’s complex in Jupiter, Florida, if necessary over next week’s All-Star break.

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