The Cardinals got one rough update and one hopeful one as they keep hanging around the postseason race.
Left-hander Ixan Henderson is done for the year. After trying to build back from a flexor strain suffered in Spring Training, he started a rehab assignment in late July and logged 13.2 innings across five outings.
His best showing came on August 9, but that ended up being his final appearance. Jeff Jones reported that the Cardinals are now calling the injury a left elbow strain, and Henderson has been moved to the 60-day minor league injured list.
That keeps him from collecting any big-league service time while he’s sidelined.
The bigger issue is what the diagnosis might mean going forward. Henderson had already dealt with two arm problems in the same season, and the elbow concern adds another layer to a situation that no longer looks minor.
There is still no set plan for where or when he’ll seek another opinion, and more testing should help clarify the severity. Surgery is not automatically in play, but the Cardinals will want a better read soon.
The best-case path now seems to be a return to full strength in time for 2027 Spring Training.
Ramon Urias is moving the other direction. The veteran infielder has been out since the beginning of May, and his rehab was paused in June before restarting on August 4. He is now getting close to the end of his 20-day rehab window, which means the Cardinals will soon have to decide whether to bring him back or send him to Memphis.
Urias, who has dealt with elbow issues on his other arm, has played around the diamond and would give St. Louis another bench option if activated.
He does not have any minor league options left, so if the Cardinals want to keep him in the organization without using a major league roster spot, he would have to agree to a longer stay in Memphis. With Jose Fermin and Bryan Torres already on the big-league bench, the Cardinals could try to buy a little more time and wait until rosters expand in September.
In Other News...
Cardinals Suddenly Have An Outfield Opening After Pereira Setback
The Cardinals had barely gotten a look at Everson Pereira before the latest interruption hit. St. Louis claimed the outfielder off waivers from the White Sox in early August, and he gave them a useful early glimpse in 11 games with a strong on-base presence before a pitch left him dealing with a left hand contusion. His absence created a fresh roster shuffle for a club that has been trying to sort out the edges of its outfield mix as the season moves into its late stages.
Pereira went on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Aug. 22, and in a corresponding move the Cardinals activated infielder Ramn Uras from the 60-day IL. For a team that needed Pereira to keep building momentum after arriving in St. Louis, the setback leaves another opening for playing time and another question about how long the Cardinals will have to wait before they can really evaluate what he might bring. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals May Need An Intriguing Young Arm Sooner Than Expected
Elbow and forearm issues have left the Cardinals scrambling for rotation help, with Andre Pallante on the Injured List and Hunter Dobbins joining him there as the club tries to keep the staff afloat. Quinn Mathews has already been moved into the rotation, and that is only part of the picture as St. Louis looks for enough healthy arms to bridge the gap.
One name that keeps coming up is Cooper Hjerpe, the 2022 first-round pick who is working in Triple-A and posting a 3.08 ERA across 14 starts this season. He is being viewed as a possible answer if the Cardinals need another starter soon, and with the current injuries piling up, the question is less about whether he belongs on the radar than how quickly the team may need him. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans May Revisit The Randal Grichuk Trade After This Surge
Randal Grichuk is back in the conversation for Cardinals fans, only now it is because of what he is doing at 35 with the White Sox. Mostly used as a designated hitter and as a pinch-hitter against left-handed pitching, Grichuk has been turning those matchups into real production, hitting .299 with a .937 OPS. It is the kind of late-career surge that naturally sends St. Louis back to a familiar question about the player it once developed, then moved on from after the 2017 season.
Grichuks Cardinals tenure always came with a split opinion: the power was real, but the plate discipline never fully caught up, and the reverse-split profile made him a tricky everyday fit. St. Louis sent him to Toronto after 2017, hoping the return would help elsewhere, but that deal never really delivered much for the Cardinals. So as Grichuk keeps carving out value in a narrower role, it is hard not to revisit how different things might have looked if the original investment had been handled another way. [Read more 🡒]