St. Louis Cardinals Rumors: SP wish list addition, another brutal injury, top prospect call-up?

STL Cardinals rumors: Star Nolan Arenado leaves game with injury

The St. Louis Cardinals didn't think they would be out of postseason contention with third baseman Nolan Arenado and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt on the roster. Alas, that's where they're at at this point. Speaking of Arenado, he was floated around as a potential trade candidate, but that was quickly shut down by team president John Mozeliak. Arenado will be in this for the rest of the season.

On Friday night, however, Arenado exited the team's game against the Philadelphia Phillies due to a lower back injury. Manager Oli Marmol revealed that this isn't the first time that he's dealt with this injury. He was dealing with this for weeks, but he refused to sit out of a game.

"He's been battling it for weeks now and he refuses to come out of any game or come out of the lineup," said Marmol, h/t Sports Illustrated. "He preps for every game and he's been able to play through it. It started to lock up a little bit there and I didn't want to push through it."

For those curious, Arenado will not be in the lineup for the team's game in Philadelphia on Saturday. Instead, Nolan Gorman will be playing third base. Additionally, Arenado is not being placed on the injured list. Instead, the team will monitor it on a day-by-day basis.

This season, Arenado recorded a .281 batting average, a .330 on-base percentage, a .503 slugging percentage, 26 home runs, 60 runs, 87 RBI, 134 hits, 89 strikeouts, and 35 walks in 477 at-bats (123 games).

It will be interesting to see when Arenado can return to the team, whether that's before the conclusion of the Phillies series, during their three-game set against the San Diego Padres, or beyond that.