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A tweet from Fox Sports Midwest suggests that St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal, sidelined by a thumb injury, will miss the first game of his new team's series against his old squad; rookie utility man Daniel Descalso will get the start in his place against the right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. Descalso had emerged as a steadier defensive option than Ryan Theriot—also unavailable Monday—in the days before the Cardinals traded outfielder Alex Castellanos for Furcal, who's hit .216/.280/.351 since.
Furcal sprained his thumb Saturday in a strange pre-game incident that saw him trip over an unsteady step at the Wrigley Field batting cages. If he looks likely to miss the next week the Cardinals could disable him and call up Tyler Greene, who's hitting a remarkable .339/.419/.611 with 12 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 53 games with AAA Memphis. Greene is likely to join the Cardinals anyway when rosters expand on September 1.
The Cardinals, however, have yet to offer any official estimate of Furcal's downtime.