St Louis Cardinals News: Max Moroff done for the year

Max Moroff was only with the St Louis Cardinals for a short time before being injured. Now, the middle infielder will be out for the rest of the season.

St Louis Cardinals infielder Max Moroff, who was recently diagnosed with a left shoulder subluxation, will undergo season-ending surgery on Tuesday, manager Mike Shildt told reporters, including Zachary Silver of MLB.com. The injury is expected to come with a seven-month recovery timeframe.

It’s a significant blow to Moroff, who had started the season hot with Triple-A Memphis. Moroff, 28, was hitting .538/.647/1.115 with four home runs and nine RBI in 26 at-bats. He was briefly called up, where he was expected to provide depth all over the infield, but struggled at the plate by slashing .063/.063/.063 with one RBI in 16 at-bats.

The Cardinals believed that he would have eventually found his own and been a meaningful player at the major-league level by providing depth behind Nolan Arenado and Tommy Edman. Instead, the organization is without one of its top minor-league veterans for the remainder of the season, which may force president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to look for outside options to fill that veteran void in Triple-A Memphis.

One option who could make sense is Jedd Gyorko, who remains unsigned after being arguably the Milwaukee Brewers’ best player last season. However, it is unlikely Gyorko is anywhere close to playing shape, considering he was named the manager of the West Virginia Black Bears, a team in the newly-created MLB Draft League.

The Cardinals, however, should not put too much of a focus on acquiring Moroff’s replacement. The goal should be to upgrade a pitching staff that is in desperate need of upgrades with Jack Flaherty, Kwang-hyun Kim and Miles Mikolas all on the injured list.

But the Moroff injury will have an effect on the Cardinals. They may not feel it now, but come later in the season, he would have gotten more playing time after rosters expand. And Mozeliak would be wise to invest in another versatile infield option, considering their infield depth at the major-league level is already thin with Paul Dejong on the IL.