The St. Louis Cardinals will be without Jhonny Peralta until around midseason after the shortstop underwent surgery for a thumb injury. Peralta is expected to be out for 10-12 weeks, leaving the Cardinals with a major void in the infield as the start of the season gets closer.
Peralta suffered the injury in spring training and left camp with the Cardinals to get a second opinion in St. Louis. He was expected to need around 2-3 months to recover from the torn ligament. General manager John Mozeliak said to the media that Peralta underwent surgery on his left thumb and will be out for at least 10 weeks to start the season.
Peralta will be in a cast for around "four to six weeks" and then will also need another month to rehab from surgery. The earliest return date for the shortstop is in June, and Mozeliak said that the team is considering both internal options and other moves to help replace him.
"Everyone's sort of pounding on, 'What are we going to do?' I think I'd like to see what we have first and then determine what's next," Mozeliak said.
The team has options on the current roster, including Aledmys Diaz, Jedd Gyorko, and Greg Garcia. Gyorko took Peralta's place for the Cardinals over the last week in spring training and he could get the first shot at replacing the shortstop. Gyorko has played multiple positions in the infield, including second base and third base in his career. He played 29 games at shortstop last season.
Peralta has been a key player for the Cardinals since signing before the 2014 season. The shortstop has provided consistency and offensive production at the position over the past two years, combining for 38 homes runs and 146 RBI in that time. Peralta has been a durable player during the course of his career, and over the past two seasons he has played in at least 155 games each year for the Cardinals. He has only played in fewer than 140 games once since 2005.
The Cardinals received some positive news on Yadier Molina, who started in spring training for the first time this week after having offseason surgery. Molina "checked out fine" after playing three innings at catcher against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Molina has not yet taken live pitching as a hitter yet, but he has made significant progress and could be ready for Opening Day.
