Taylor

Motter

Motter predictably went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. The 33-year-old journeyman will presumably stick around as extra organizational depth over the final few weeks of the regular season.

It’s the third time this season that Motter has been designated for assignment by the Cardinals. As with the other two times, it seems likely that he’ll pass through waivers and continue to function as extra depth at the Triple-A level — unless of course he holds a grudge and refuses the outright assignment to Triple-A.

Edman played second base in the previous two games, but he’ll move to the outfield with Taylor Motter playing second base. Nolan Gorman is not in the lineup despite being activated Friday.

Gorman lands on the injured list after missing three straight games with back tightness. The 23-year-old slugger, who has 24 homers in 104 games this season, received an injection this week to address inflammation and will be shut down from baseball activities for the next few days. He’s been replaced on the active roster by outfielder Richie Palacios, which likely means that Taylor Motter and Jose Fermin will see more starts on the infield until he returns.

Nootbaar left Wednesday’s game after fouling a pitch off of his groin, so the Cardinals will mercifully give him a day off on Thursday. The 25-year-old outfielder expressed optimism to reporters that he’ll be ready to return to the lineup in a few days.

Gorman will miss his third straight game due to lower back tightness. It’ll be journeyman infielder Taylor Motter picking up another start at the keystone during his ongoing absence.

It has been a nagging issue for Gorman that has bothered him off-and-on for the past few weeks. He’s considered day-to-day. Taylor Motter will replace him in the Cardinals’ lineup and start at second base against JP Sears and the Athletics on Monday night.

It’s a routine off day for the veteran third baseman, who is hitting .279/.327/.505 with 22 home runs in 104 games in what is a bit of a down year but his own lofty standards. The Cardinals will turn to Taylor Motter at third base against Sonny Gray.

The shortstop has started almost 30 games in a row for the Cardinals, so this appears to be nothing more than a routine day off. However, his name has come up in trade talks, so it’s worth keeping an eye on. The veteran is hitting .238/.304/.424 slash line with 13 home runs and four steals in 77 games. He will be replaced in the lineup by Taylor Motter on Thursday.

It appears to be a routine off day following a night contest for Arenado, who has been at the epicenter of trade speculation recently. It’ll be Taylor Motter handling the hot corner on Wednesday afternoon in his place.