Matt Carpenter Injury: St. Louis Cardinals 3B Has Strained Oblique, Placed On DL

The St. Louis Cardinals' Spring Training surprise turned unlikely roster glue, Matt Carpenter, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednedsay; he's suffering from a strained right oblique, and was replaced on the 25-man roster by AAA catcher Steven Hill. Carpenter suffered the injury hitting a double in the Cardinals' May 22 victory over the San Diego Padres; he grimaced running the bases and was pulled immediately for Daniel Descalso, who figures to soak up most of the time Carpenter would have spent at third base.

The injury could hardly come at a worse time for the Cardinals, who were leaning heavily on Carpenter to replace not only Lance Berkman—scheduled for surgery Thursday to repair a torn meniscus and some potential ACL damage—but Allen Craig, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a tweaked hamstring and will miss a little more than a week at minimum due to roster rules.

Carpenter, 26 and known in the minors mostly for his high walk rates, was hitting a surprisingly muscular .288/.356/.519, with three home runs, three triples, and nine doubles, in 104 at-bats as the Cardinals' jack-of-all-trades behind Berkman, Craig, David Freese, and even Carlos Beltran.

Cardinals Place Matt Carpenter On Disabled List, Call Up Steven Hill

The St. Louis Cardinals have placed infielder Matt Carpenter on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain, as the team announced on Wednesday afternoon. Carpenter was playing third base for St. Louis on Tuesday night when he tweaked himself during his first at-bat, ultimately leaving the game.

The team has placed @MattCarp13 on the 15-day DL (right oblique strain). Catcher Steven Hill from AAA Memphis will join the team tonight.

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 23, 2012

Injuries continue to ravage the Cardinals' lineup, which is now missing Lance Berkman, Allen Craig and Jon Jay in addition to Carpenter. Matt Adams will get the full-time nod at first base for the time being with Hill providing back-up duty.

So far in 2012, Carpenter has hit .288/.356/.519 with three homers over 118 plate appearances while establishing himself as a legitimate big leaguer. His replacement on the active roster, the 27-year-old Hill, has hit .242/.292/.470 with four homers in 72 plate appearances with Triple-A Memphis this year.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. Visit Viva El Birdos for more in-depth coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals and Gaslamp Ball for more on the Padres. For more news and updates from around the MLB, drop by Baseball Nation with Rob Neyer, or dig deeper into the stats at Beyond the Box Score.

Matt Carpenter Injury: Cardinals 3B Leaves Game In 1st Inning

The St. Louis Cardinals have been dealt another blow by the injury bug. Third baseman Matt Carpenter did something to his right side during his first at-bat on Tuesday night, which forced his exit.

Carpenter leaving field holding right side after double. Real clear he was hurt by his lack of speed out of the box. #stlcards #Cardinals

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 23, 2012

Related: Matt Adams, Tyler Greene's Competition, and Other Good News

No additional details of the injury are known at this time. Daniel Descalso replaced Carpenter at third.

St. Louis leads San Diego 1-0 in the second inning.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. Visit Viva El Birdos for more in-depth coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals and Gaslamp Ball for more on the Padres. For more news and updates from around the MLB, drop by Baseball Nation with Rob Neyer, or dig deeper into the stats at Beyond the Box Score.