Cardinals Call Up Utility Man To Bolster Middle Infield Depth Ahead Of Trade Deadline

With the trade deadline just days away, the St. Louis Cardinals are making some changes to the middle infield. 

St. Louis' second baseman Nolan Gorman has been day-to-day with back tightness, prompting a Triple-A call-up for short-term relief.

"The Cardinals selected (Taylor) Motter's contract from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday. He'll start at second base and bat eighth in the Cardinals' series finale with the Cubs." CBS Sports' RotoWire Staff wrote Sunday.

In order to make this move possible, infielder José Fermín was optioned to Triple-A Memphis to make room for Motter on the active roster. The 24-year-old was on the active roster for 16 days but only logged 11 at-bats. Cardinals manager Oli Marmol seemingly is more comfortable going in a different direction to fill his bench. 

Motter is a journeyman who has played for seven different clubs since making his Major League Baseball debut with Tampa back in 2016. Motter is a versatile talent who has played every position besides catcher and center field over the course of his career -- even pitching for 1 1/3 innings.

The utility man has struggled at the plate when called up to the big leagues, hitting only .190/.263/.307 in 427 at-bats over the course of six seasons. 

Motter's versatility and glove give him a fighting chance to see the field in weeks to come. Over the course of his 170-game MLB career, Motter has only committed 10 errors.

The 33-year-old will not contribute much offensively but he certainly can help fortify depth on the big-league roster in the short-term. He'll be a useful asset to fill in all over the place as the Cardinals likely will unload a few position players at the deadline and will need players like Motter to step up.

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