With a slew of injuries hitting their rotation in recent weeks, the Cardinals are starting to develop contingency plans for the starting staff. That includes the demotion of Carlos Martinez to Triple-A Monday, to begin work as a starter.
"We need to get him ready to start," manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com. "We see him in the future as being a starter. He did a nice job for us coming out of the bullpen, but with the situation we've been having here with our rotation, he's a guy we'd like to have built up to use as an option later."
Martinez post a 4.50 ERA in seven relief appearances, striking out nine batters in eight innings.