Cardinals take precaution and remove Nolan Arenado from game after potential injury

The story has since been updated with more information regarding the injury that caused Nolan Arenado to leave Sunday's game.

The St. Louis Cardinals are having a really good weekend of baseball against the Cleveland Guardians, but Nolan Arenado's fun appears to have been cut short.

After recording his 1,900th career hit on an infield single, Arenado was seen sheepishly running the bases later in the game on what was his 400th career double during the top of the 6th inning, and the Cardinals ended up taking Arenado out of the game to avoid further injury. It actually turns out that he had hurt his finger during the at-bat where he recorded his 1,900th hit, and nothing was wrong with his lower body.

The Cardinals announced that Nolan Arenado was removed from Sunday's game for precautionary reasons after a potential lower-half injury

During the top of the 8th inning, Jose Fermin pinch-hit for Arenado, immediately sparking curiosity about Arenado's health. While we don't know for sure what was ailing Arenado, it does appear like something in his lower half was barking at him on the bases. It wasn't severe enough to be removed from the game immediately, as Arenado wasn't removed from the game until the top of the 8th.

After the game, Arenado told reporters that he had actually jammed his right index finger on his body after reaching first base on that infield hit, and he expected to be fine by Monday's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

We'll continue to monitor Arenado's status and update this if it becomes more serious. While Arenado hasn't been himself this year, he is still one of the best defensive third basemen in all of baseball and has been swinging a better bat as of late. Nolan Gorman has been producing at the plate and is in need of everyday playing time, but the Cardinals really don't need another injury on their hands with Ivan Herrera on the IL, Lars Nootbaar ailing as well, and Jordan Walker on a rehab assignment.

It is at least slightly notable that Nootbaar did not come into the game for Arenado, as he also appeared to tweak something during yesterday's game and was not in the starting lineup today. Nootbaar received an injection in his intercostal region earlier this week that caused him to miss two games, and that appears to have resurfaced for him as well.

While the Cardinals have mostly remained healthy this year, that may be changing right now, and it may be tough for the club to keep up their winning ways if their lineup continues to erode. The Cardinals have a huge series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field coming up next weekend, so they'll need their guys to be healthy heading into that.

As more information is provided about Arenado's situation, we'll be sure to provide that for you. We'll also continue to monitor Nootbaar's situation, as that could turn into an IL stint as well if things are not progressing before tomorrow.