Cardinals Activate Jon Jay And Matt Carpenter

The St. Louis Cardinals have had quite a number of players hit the disabled list this season; despite that, they're at .500 and very much in the NL Central race, just four games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds.

They'll get reinforcements back for Friday's game against the Royals:

#Cardinals activate Jay, Matt Carpenter; option Adams, Chambers.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 22, 2012

Jon Jay has been out with a shoulder injury; Matt Carpenter with an oblique. Matt Adams is one of the Cardinals' better prospects, but they apparently want him to get more Triple-A seasoning. Adron Chambers is a spare-part outfielder who's been up and down between St. Louis and Memphis much of the last two seasons.

Jay went 3-for-7 in two rehab games with a home run. The Cardinals apparently figured that was enough to get him back in their lineup. Carpenter was 3-for-10 with Memphis in his rehab stint, also with a home run.

For more on the Cardinals, please visit Viva El Birdos and SB Nation St. Louis.

Matt Carpenter To DL With Oblique Injury

St. Louis Cardinals rookie Matt Carpenter got off to a great start in 2012, taking advantage of playing time received at the expense of the injured Carlos Beltran, Allen Craig, Jon Jay, and Lance Berkman. He's been invaluable, hitting .288/.356/.519 in 104 at-bats while playing four different positions. And, as is typical for the Cards this year, he'll go on the disabled list:

#STLCards with ANOTHER injury: Matt Carpenter to DL with right oblique strain.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) May 23, 2012

Freak oblique tweaks can take a while to heal, though pitchers usually have a tougher time coming back from them. To replace Carpenter, the Cardinals called up Steven Hill. From Viva el Birdos:

Hill has played one big league game and that was in 2010. In it, he went 1-for-3 with a homer. The farmhand has been a player without a set position. In his first year as a pro, Hill played first base, catcher, and left field. Over the spant of his entire minor-league career, he has also seen playing time at third base and right field. Hill's career minor league hitting line is .287/.338/.516/.855. In 2012, with Memphis, he has hit .257/.303/.471/.774.

This is the part where Hill hits just as well as the guy he's replacing because that's what the Cardinals do.

Cardinals' Matt Carpenter Will Have MRI For Oblique Injury

The Cardinals could have another player added to their DL.