The St. Louis Cardinals announced prior to today’s game that they have placed All-Star infielder Matt Carpenter (right oblique strain) on the 15-day disabled list and purchased the contract of catcher Michael McKenry from Memphis (AAA).
Carpenter, named on Tuesday to his third National League All-Star team, becomes the third St. Louis player in three days (also Brandon Moss and Brayan Pena) to be placed on the disabled list. Carpenter currently ranks among National League leaders in several offensive categories, including both on-base (.420) pct. and slugging (.568) pct. He was batting .298 with a team-high 25 doubles, 56 runs scored and 53 RBI to go along with his 14 home runs.
Carpenter was disabled once prior in his Major League career (May 23 to June 22, 2012) for a right oblique injury.
McKenry, 31, was signed by the Cardinals as a minor league free agent on May 27 after beginning the 2016 season with the Texas Rangers Triple-A Round Rock club. Since joining Memphis, he’s batted .341 (28-for-82) in 24 games with 5 home runs and 20 RBI, compiling a 1.126 on-base + slugging pct. He helped Memphis to a 7-6 win with his walk-off home run against Nashville last night.
The right-handed hitting Tennessee native has appeared in 308 games in the majors with Colorado (2010, 2014-15) and Pittsburgh (2011-13), combining for a .239 batting average (200-for-838) with 29 homers and 103 RBI.
McKenry has been assigned uniform no. 19.
