When it rains, it pours. And the injury bug has hit the St. Louis Cardinals like a tumultuous thunderstorm over the last week. In the eighth inning of the Cardinals' 7-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, third baseman Blaze Jordan got his foot caught on the base while applying a tag to Gunnar Henderson .
He was removed from the game, gingerly walking off the field with help from manager Oliver Marmol and assistant trainer Chris Conroy, and was placed on the injured list Friday with a left ankle sprain. He joins Andre Pallante , Hunter Dobbins , Masyn Winn , Everson Pereira , and Peter Strzelecki as Cardinals who have been put on the shelf in the last seven days.
Aug 27, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan (33) hits a three run home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Jordan has gotten a solid run as St. Louis ' third baseman since being called up on June 12 to replace Nolan Gorman . In his first 58 big-league games, Jordan slashed .246/.276/.382 with three homers, 28 runs batted in, and three doubles. He also hit a team-high four triples despite boasting 14th-percentile sprint speed.
His three-run homer that got the scoring started for St. Louis in its lone win over Baltimore was the first round-tripper for Jordan at Busch Stadium. After crushing a homer against Minnesota in his second MLB game, Jordan was in a power outage until Aug. 15 at Wrigley Field, when he drilled a 408-foot shot during Joshua Báez's historic debut . Also playing solid defense, Jordan has amassed one out above average at third base.
Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reported that Jordan was wearing a boot up to his knee in the team clubhouse on Friday, putting a possible return to action this season in jeopardy.
To fill Jordan's spot on the active roster, the Cardinals recalled utility infielder Thomas Saggese from Triple-A Memphis. After making the team out of Spring Training, Saggese scuffled to start the season, hitting .184 with a .520 OPS through 32 games. He has been optioned twice this year and hasn't been with the big-league team since the start of June.
Saggese has been serviceable at Memphis, slashing .258/.340/.446 with 10 homers in 2026. But over his last nine games, Saggese is nine-for-30 (.300). The 25-year-old is still searching for stability after St. Louis acquired him and Tekoah Roby in 2023 for Jordan Montgomery .
Last Friday, the Cardinals placed Pallante on the injured list with elbow inflammation, the first St. Louis starter to hit the IL since Sonny Gray in September 2024. One day later, Dobbins joined his rotation mate on the injured list with a right flexor strain after being pulled early from his start against the Phillies .
Winn suffered a small fracture in his left hand while sliding into a base during a series in Cincinnati , but wasn't placed on the IL until earlier this week . Pereira was hit by a pitch in Philadelphia and suffered a left hand contusion, while Strzelecki experienced right forearm inflammation.
In addition to Saggese, Gorman, Ryan Fernandez , Ramón Urías , and Cade Winquest have either returned or been introduced to the major league squad.
The injury bug finally strikes the Cardinals at an inopportune time for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, St. Louis is in the stretch run with just over a month of the regular season remaining, and any of its starters have been productive contributors. Sporting a 67-68 record and starting a three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates , the Cardinals are fading from the playoff picture, currently 5 1/2 games out of the third and final spot.
It will be interesting to see how each of these fresher faces in the clubhouse can contribute, and if St. Louis can get hot in the final month of the regular season.
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Main Photo Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
