Ramón

Urías

Urías is dealing with pain on the outer side of his right elbow. He’ll likely be shut down for a brief period before ramping up baseball activities again. The 31-year-old veteran has split time between first and third base in his Cardinals debut, hitting .158 (9-for-57) with two homers in 25 games this season.

With a right handed pitcher on the mound, Gorman will re-enter the starting lineup. However, he’s hitting just .204 with a 33 percent strikeout rate, so he’ll need to start producing to hold off Ramon Urias and Thomas Saggesse for playing time.

Burleson receives his first day off this season with Ramón Urías getting a start at first base in his place. The 27-year-old, who has mostly hit third for the Cardinals this season, is batting .245 (12-for-49) with one homer, 10 RBI and one steal over 13 games

Urías led off the second inning with a double off of Connelly Early and scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Victor Scott II. He then drew a walk in the fifth inning and scored the go-ahead run on Jose Fermin’s sacrifice fly. The 31-year-old infielder has done a nice job in his limited action with the Cardinals this season, slashing .261/.346/.652 with a pair of homers and four RBI in 26 plate appearances.

Urías has been a part-time player for the Cardinals, but Nolan Gorman has not gotten off to a great start offensively, and the Cardinals could even move Gorman to DH more often when Ivan Herrera can catch regularly. Urías has two home runs and four RBI so far this season while slashing .313/.353/.813 in limited action so far this year.

Rather surprisingly, Urías has started three of the Cardinals’ first five games, including twice against righties. Meanwhile, Thomas Saggese has played just once, and José Fermín doesn’t even have a plate appearance yet. The homer made Urías 2-for-9 with four strikeouts. There’s a good argument that he’s the Cardinals’ best option at third between Nolan Gorman, Saggese and Fermín, but he’s also the one player in the group with no real possibility of helping the Cardinals in 2027 and beyond.

Herrera will be behind the plate for the second time of the season. Nolan Dorman will be the designated hitter, and Ramón Urías will handle third base. Pedro Pages will retreat to the bench with Herrera behind the dish.

The deal, which includes an additional $2 million in playing time incentives, is now official. Urías heads to St. Louis as a natural southpaw-mashing platoon partner at the hot corner for left-handed slugger Nolan Gorman. The 31-year-old veteran batted .241/.292/.384 with 11 homers and three steals in 391 plate appearances between the Astros and Orioles last year. He remained effective against left-handed pitching, posting a solid .743 OPS. He can be safely ignored for fantasy purposes.

Rosenthal’s report with the exact financial terms comes after Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reported on Friday that the two sides were working on a deal. He adds that the deal includes a mutual option for 2027 and an additional $2 million in playing time incentives. The 31-year-old southpaw-masher provides the Cardinals with a short-term stopgap at the hot corner to pair with lefty slugger Nolan Gorman. His arrival further clarifies that the club envisions top prospect JJ Wetherholt at second base, if he’s going to make the Opening Day roster.

Urías was designated for assignment Tuesday, so the writing was on the wall. The 31-year-old has been a solid option against lefties and play multiple infield positions, so there should be interest on the market.