ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals expect to place pitcher Chris Carpenter on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday and are preparing to call up right-hander Anthony Reyes from the minors to take his spot in the rotation.
"We're expecting to pitch somebody else tomorrow, like Anthony," manager Tony La Russa said before Monday's game against the Astros. "I just know he's on call and expecting to pitch."
Carpenter was scratched from his last scheduled start because of inflammation under his right shoulder blade, an injury the team described as bursitis, and has not thrown a bullpen session since then. Reyes worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings at Kansas City earlier this month.
La Russa said the team is hopeful Carpenter, the NL Cy Young winner last year after a 21-5 season, would be able to return to the rotation after missing Tuesday's start. The team would make the move retroactive to May 20, the day after Carpenter's last appearance.
Carpenter is 4-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 10 starts. La Russa said it's highly unlikely the team would allow Carpenter to pitch on Tuesday even if he felt perfect, because he hasn't properly prepared.
"We don't want to risk it," La Russa said. "He hasn't done enough to get ready for it."
In his earlier start on May 20, Reyes, 24, was filling in while Sidney Ponson was on the disabled list with an elbow injury. The Cardinals took note of Reyes' progression from last year, when he was among the September callups.
"He was a pitcher, it wasn't just all about stuff," La Russa said.
Reyes is 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA in eight starts at Memphis with 48 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings. He threw eight scoreless innings in his last outing.