In a move designed to provide regular playing time and steady at bats for Thomas Saggese, the Cardinals recalled infielder Cesar Prieto and optioned the seldom-used infielder/outfielder to Triple-A Memphis on Monday.
ST. LOUIS – In a move designed to provide regular playing time and steady at bats for Thomas Saggese, the Cardinals recalled infielder Cesar Prieto and optioned the seldom-used infielder/outfielder to Triple-A Memphis on Monday.
As first detailed on Roundtable Sports on Sunday, Saggese has fallen behind Jose Fermin in the primary utility role and has gotten just 53 at bats 33 games into the season.
As for Prieto, the Cuban-born infielder made his MLB debut in 2025 and played in three big-league games with the Cardinals over two MLB stints. He went 1 for 6 with five strikeouts at the big-league level.
This season at Triple-A Memphis, Prieto has slashed .311/.357/.566/.923 while hitting six homers and driving in 14 runs. He has added seven doubles and a triple in 26 games.
He has played in 18 games at shortstop, five games at third base and one at DH for Memphis. He has four errors, with two coming while at shortstop and two at third base.
Saggese, 24, has been a player without much of a role on the Cardinals with Nathan Church (five homers and three home run robberies) manning left field, Ramon Urias (two homers and stellar defense) serving as the backup to third baseman Nolan Gorman and Fermin getting most of the reps in the utility role.
Saggese, a former MVP of the Double-A Texas League, hasn't played in a game since April 27 in Pittsburgh when he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. Saggese hasn't had a hit since April 11 against the Red Sox and hasn't recorded a knock in the past eight games he's appeared in.
Join the conversation
Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!