Cards recall Thomas, claim Mejía off waivers from Angels
ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t made any blockbuster trade-deadline deals yet, but they did make roster moves Tuesday before their game against their co-leaders in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs.
The Cardinals recalled rookie outfielder Lane Thomas from Triple-A Memphis and gave him the 25-man roster spot that had belonged to outfielder Harrison Bader, who was optioned to Memphis on Monday.
St. Louis also claimed left-handed reliever Adalberto Mejía off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. But they had to clear room for Mejia on the 40-man major league roster, which they accomplished by transferring infielder Jedd Gyorko (right wrist/back strain) to the 60-day injured list.
And finally, the team sent outfielder Marcell Ozuna to Memphis to begin an injury rehabilitation assignment Tuesday night.
Thomas, 23, has been hot in Memphis, whereas Bader (.195 average in 221 at-bats this season) was slumping in St. Louis. Thomas is batting .268 with 10 home runs, 44 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 75 Triple-A games this season. His July numbers (.347, six homers, 19 RBIs in 20 games) include a three-homer game July 27 at Oklahoma City.
Thomas batted .308 with a homer and four RBIs in 11 games spread over three previous call-ups to St. Louis this season.
Mejía will be added to the team’s 25-man roster when he reports for duty. The 26-year-old is 6-9 with a 4.55 ERA in 44 career games (25 starts) with Minnesota (2016-19) and the Angels (2019). He is 0-2 with a 7.32 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 17 games with the Twins and Angels in 2019.
Ozuna has missed 25 games since suffering finger fractures on his right hand June 28. Paul Goldschmidt since passed him for the team lead in homers (24 to 20), though Ozuna still has a team-high 62 RBIs.
