The Cardinals have placed 27-year old starting 3B David Freese on the 15-day disabled list with a sore ankle. Freese has played in 70 games for the Cardinals so far this season and he is 71 of 240 (.296 avg, .765 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 4 homers and 36 RBIs. 30-year old switch hitting Felipe Lopez will likely start at 3B until Freese is ready to return to action. Lopez has played in 47 games for the Cardinals so far this year and he is 40 of 161 (.248 avg, .717 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers, 18 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Look for Lopez to do a solid job while Freese gets healthy.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Adam Wainwright has been dominating so far this season for the Cardinals. He has started 16 games this season for the Cardinals and he is 10-5 with a 2.47 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. Wainwright has only allowed 86 hits in 113 innings this season while whiffing 107 batters showing just how dominant he has been. He is a workhorse to helping out the whole pitching staff as he has 3 complete games and a shutout this season. Wainwright came to the Cardinals from the Braves a few years ago in a trade involving J.D. Drew. Count that trade as a huge win for the Cardinals. Wainwright has now pitched in 165 games (102 starts) in his six years with the Cardinals and he is 56-29 with 3 saves, a 3.07 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

The Cardinals have signed 27-year old lefty reliever Renyel Pinto to a minor league deal. Pinto pitched in 20 games (0 starts) earlier this season for the Marlins and he was 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He has now pitched in 244 games (0 starts) in his five years in the majors and he is 8-10 with 2 saves, a 3.62 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. This is a good signing for the Cardinals as Pinto has good stuff as evidenced by the fact that he has only given up 181 hits in 231 innings while whiffing 222 batters. But, Pinto has control issues as he has walked 152 batters in his major league career. Look for pitching coach Dave Duncan to fix what ails Pinto when he eventually gets to St. Louis.

23-year old lefty swinging CF Colby Rasmus had a solid rookie season in 2009. He played in 147 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 119 of 474 (.251 avg, .714 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 16 homers, 52 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. This year Rasmus is hitting the ball much better. He has played in 64 games this season for the Cardinals and he is 56 of 203 (.276 avg, .930 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 13 homers, 34 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. The Cardinals have to be ecstatic with the way Rasmus is swinging the bat right now and they hope he keeps up the good work.

28-year old righty swinging outfielder Nick Stavinoha is having his best season in the majors this year. He has played in 39 games for the Cardinals and he is 14 of 49 (.286 avg, .742 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. Stavinoha has whiffed 16 times this season so he does have some holes in his swing but that’s nitpicking a bit as he usually only bats one time per game. He did hit a huge walkoff homer off all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman in April which seemed to set the tone for the season.