Cardinals call up top prospect Oscar Taveras

The time has come. The time has come for the Cardinals’ top prospect to make his debut, under circumstances that aren’t exactly ideal for St. Louis, but as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures.

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Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported during the Cardinals loss against the Giants Friday night that the team was going to call up Oscar Taveras to make his Major League debut. He was announced as a scratch for Memphis and it was reported that first baseman Matt Adams would end up going on the disabled list with a strained calf. The move is going to put Allen Craig back at first base while Taveras comes up to make a five-man outfield. Peter Bourjos, Jon Jay, and Matt Holliday will still be on the Major League roster; Taveras and fellow call-up Randal Grichuk will add to the depth.

Taveras was much ballyhooed coming out of Spring Training, although the 21-year old suffered season ending ankle surgery midway through last season. The ankle bothered him through Spring Training this season as well, but coming out of camp, it doesn’t seem to have affected him that much in his minor league season. In 49 games with Memphis, Taveras has a .325/.373/.524 slash line with seven homers and 40 RBI.

What does this mean for the extra outfielders? Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak had the answer in a post-game press conference Friday night.

Mozeliak says: "Center field is still in play. Jay is hitting. He deserves opportunities. Bourjos role may be diminished." #stlcards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 31, 2014

Taveras was flown to St. Louis after being scratched Friday night. Goold says that the team couldn’t find a plane for him to catch on Saturday morning. Manager Mike Matheny confirmed that Taveras would be in the starting lineup on Saturday and will wear number 18.

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