Cardinals add Tuivailala, two others to expanded roster
The St. Louis Cardinals are taking advantage of expanded September rosters to recall three players from Triple-A Memphis, one of whom will make his major league debut when he makes his way into his first Cardinals box score.
Joining the Cardinals in Pittsburgh on Tuesday will be outfielder Jose Martinez and right-handed pitchers Mike Mayers and Sam Tuivailala.
The two pitchers have had a cup of coffee with the Cardinals before, but Martinez, 28, is set to become the 11th Cardinal to make his big-league debut this season.
Martinez, 28, was acquired from the Royals in a May 25 trade. He has batted a combined .278 in 124 games between Omaha (Kansas City's Triple-A affiliate) and Memphis while playing first base and both left and right field. The right-handed hitter has swatted 18 doubles and eight home runs and driven in 42 runs at Memphis. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound native of Venezuela was originally signed by the Chicago White Sox as a 17-year old in 2006, and in 887 minor league career games he has a .294 batting average.
Tuivailala is joining St. Louis for the third time this season, having compiled seven strikeouts over six innings in eight games in his previous stints. The 23-year-old earned 17 saves and posted a 3-2 record with 72 strikeouts and just 22 walks in 42 games at Memphis.
Mayers is making his first trip back to the bigs after making his major league debut in a July 24 start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He gave up nine earned runs over 1 1/3 innings, took the loss and was promptly returned to the minors. Mayers, a third-round draft pick in 2013 out of the University of Mississippi, has made 25 combined starts for Memphis and Double-A Springfield this season, going 9-10 with a 3.19 ERA.
