The St. Louis Cardinals lost two relievers in the process of losing 13-8 to the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday night, when Bryan Augenstein strained his groin and Brian Tallet broke a bone in his glove-hand. The Post-Dispatch reports that Augenstein’s strain is “severe.”
They also clear up the question of who might replace the injured pitchers. Fernando Salas, who had a solid rookie season for the Cardinals in 2010, is first in line, with top relief prospect Eduardo Sanchez likely to make the trip with the Cardinals in case Tallet is also disabled.
Sanchez, 22, has dominated at every stop in his minor league career so far. In 2010 he split his season between AA and AAA, putting up a 2.38 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 53 innings against 20 walks and four home runs. Salas, one of the last cuts in Spring Training, put together a 3.52 ERA in 30 MLB innings; in AAA he had 19 saves while striking out 44 in 35 innings.