St. Louis Cardinals release Ty Wigginton

Good riddance to veteran infielder Ty Wigginton. The St. Louis Cardinals granted Wigginton his unconditional release today and purchased the contract of Rob Johnson from the Memphis Redbirds.
Jun 8, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Ty Wigginton (12) makes a play during the second inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Image Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
The promotion of Johnson is likely due to catcher Yadier Molina being bothered by his knees. In 59 games for the Redbirds, Johnson is hitting .236 (46-for-195) with 7 home runs and 32 RBI. Against left-handed pitchers, the catcher is hitting .284 (18-for-67).

Behind the plate, he has thrown out 29 percent (12-of-41) of base stealers.

Wigginton only appeared in 47 games this season for the Cardinals. However, he was only batting .158. The Cardinals gave him the chance to play in Memphis but he declined to do so. As such, he was released by the club.

When Lance Lynn won his 11th game of the season on Sunday, he joined Adam Wainwright with 11 wins. This is the only the fourth time since the All-Star Game began in 1933 that the Cardinals have two pitchers with 10 wins or more before the break. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the previous times that this happened were in 1969 (Steve Carlton and Bob Gibson), 1972 (Gibson and Reggie Cleveland), and 1985 (Joaquin Andujar and Danny Cox). Rookie pitcher Shelby Miller has the chance to join the duo should he pick up his 10th win on Wednesday.

On Saturday, there were 5 Cardinals that were elected to the 84th Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York: catcher Yadier Molina (5th selection), outfielder Carlos Beltran (8th), infielders Matt Carpenter (1st) and Allen Craig (1st), and pitcher Adam Wainwright (2nd). With 6,883,258 votes, Molina led the National League and will start behind the plate. Beltran was also voted to start.