Cardinals Announce Rare Position Change For Gold Glover Amid Injury Woes

The St. Louis Cardinals entered the season with so much outfield depth that many speculated they would trade one or two of them for pitching help -- a need that was apparent early on and has not gone away.

However, as we sit here in early June, the Cardinals are having to move infielders into the outfield after a cluster of injuries and some lackluster production.

Outfielders Tyler O'Neill and Lars Nootbar are on the injured list with back injuries. Dylan Carlson, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson and Óscar Mercado are all on the active roster but have failed to produce much -- all four have negative WAR's this season.

These struggles forced Cardinals manager Oli Marmol to play some infielders in the outfield, namely Brendan Donovan and Tommy Edman. After a strong start in his new role, the latter has earned more time out there.

"For the benefit of the club, Edman (in center field) does that for us at the moment," Marmol told the St. Louis media, as transcribed by The Athletic's Katie Woo. "We have the ability to move Donovan to second, (Nolan) Gorman to second, and play with it that way. But looking at where we rank in running things down and playing good defense, this is our best shot.”

Edman won the National League Gold Glove award at second base in 2021 and has been a steady presence up the middle for the Cardinals over the last few years. St. Lous would ideally like to bring Edman back to his natural infield spots but will continue to use the versatile 28-year-old in center field until they are healthy enough to fill the position with a productive player.

For now, he'll continue to impress with his quick first step and impressive routes.

More MLB: Cardinals Linked To Guardians' Shane Bieber Among Eight Trade Deadline Suiters

Published Jun 10, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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