Cards recall Ponce de Leon and Leone, put Hicks on IL, send Cabrera down

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals made four roster moves Tuesday, all involving pitchers, the least surprising of which was the placement of reliever Jordan Hicks on the 10-day injured list.

The club announced Monday that Hicks had a torn UCL in his right elbow, an injury that almost certainly requires surgery and could cost the hard-throwing right-hander the rest of the season. His IL assignment is retroactive to June 23.

Génesis Cabrera was optioned to Triple-A Memphis. The rookie left-hander is 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA in five appearances (two starts) for the Cardinals this season.

Replacing Hicks and Cabrera on the 25-man active roster are right-handers Daniel Ponce de Leon and Dominic Leone, who were recalled from Memphis.

Ponce de Leon’s call-up is his third this season. He is 0-0 with a 1.20 ERA in three starts for the Cardinals after pitching six scoreless innings in a June 19 start.

Leone pitched in 20 games for the Cardinals this season, striking out 27 batters in 21.1 innings but compiling an 8.02 ERA, before being optioned to Memphis on May 17. He went 0-0 with a 4.19 ERA in 13 games with the Redbirds.