Cardinals Release Crawford, Option Walker in Series of Roster Moves

The St. Louis Cardinals made a few surprising moves to their active roster before their upcoming series at Busch Stadium.

On Tuesday, the team announced a series of roster moves that will shake up the way manager Oli Marmol uses his bench against the NL Central division leading Milwaukee Brewers.

The team reactivated infielder Matt Carpenter after being on the 10-day injured list. They also recalled infielder Luken Baker from Triple-A Memphis. In return, outfielder Jordan Walker was sent back to the minor leagues and veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford was released from the ball club.

Carpenter was placed on the injured list on August 12th due to a lower back strain. Having his presence back on the bench and in pinch hit roles has worked well for St. Louis this season. In his last seven games before the injury, Carpenter hit .308/.400/.615 with a homer and three RBIs across 13 at bats.

Baker will make his season debut for the Cardinals after spending the beginning of the season with Triple-A Memphis. The infielder has had success at the plate this year hitting 32 homers and 79 RBIs with an .880 OPS in the International League.

As for Walker, he will sent back to the minors after a short stint in the Majors. He was called up to platoon against left handed pitching and never really was handed a fair shake at refining his bat back with St. Louis. He went .091/.167/.091 with only one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts across 12 plate appearances.

The move of releasing Crawford comes at an interesting time as he was placed on the roster to backup Masyn Winn at shortstop. Calling up Baker does not fill that void. Crawford finishes his Cardinals career with a .169/.263/.282 slash

The Cardinals will begin the series with the Brewers tonight with the first pitch scheduled for 7:45 PM EST.