Cardinals transactions: Doubleheader moves, Rajcic update, rotation plans

The St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff is getting plenty of reinforcements with today's doubleheader against the Brewers. Earlier reports announced Luis Gastelum would be promoted, but his big league debut will have to wait until he is truly needed. Brenden Schaeffer reported that Bruce Zimmermann is going to provide depth today while Ryan Fernandez was demoted.

The move comes a day after another blown lead by the Cardinals bullpen, and Fernandez was the one to hop on the Memphis shuttle. Because Zimmermann was not on the 40-man roster, Chaim Bloom needed to clear space and that was done with an injury update on reliever Max Rajcic. According to the report, Rajcic was placed on the 60-day IL with Jeff Jones announcing that he will get a second opinion, but things do not look good for the rookie righty.

The Cardinals need to cover plenty of innings against the Brewers to remain in playoff contention

With today's doubleheader, the Cardinals are able to have a 27th man on their roster for one of the games, and that roster spot will be used for Hunter Dobbins, who is reportedly starting game two of the twinbill. In the matinee, it was announced that Matt Svanson would be starting against Jacob Misiorowski, which now looks like a bullpen (throw in the towel) game for the roster to sort itself out. Svanson has pitched plenty in the past week and the results have not improved. Depending on how his outing goes, he could be replaced for a fresh arm.

Taking the active roster spot from Fernandez is former Brewer Bruce Zimmermann. The 31-year-old has put together a solid season for Memphis and will be pitching in the majors for the first time since a six-inning outing for Milwaukee last season. In Triple-A, the lefty is 5-3 with a 3.78 ERA and is striking out more than a batter an inning while demonstrating solid command. He is not listed as a starter for either game, so he could be the bulk reliever following Svanson in game one.

With four more games against the Brewers in three days before a weekend series against Atlanta, the Cardinals are going to need multiple arms to step up in a big way. After Dustin May provided a planned shorter outing last night, the Cardinals are hoping that Zimmermann or game two starter Dobbins can handle a handful of frames each. That would save the bullpen but also mean that both pitchers did their jobs and gave the team a chance to win. With one more difficult push before the All-Star break, the Cardinals need all the momentum possible to stick with the contenders.

The Graceffo demotion is his second this week as he was only eligibile to be recalled before the 15-day minimum stay due to Rajcic's injuries. His season-long numbers looked better than what his outings showed, and that luck finally caught up to him. Graceffo can provide multiple innings in relief so it will be interesting to see how he is used in Memphis. With rotation spots potentially opening up after the trade deadline, anyone is an option to start for the St. Louis Cardinals this year.

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