The Cardinals will call up a junior infielder Thomas Saggese for his major league debut, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so St. Louis will have to officially acquire his contract from Triple-A Memphis. However, the Cards already have two vacancies on the 40-man roster, so they just need a corresponding move on the 28-man active roster.

Saggese, 22, was acquired by the Rangers in a trade at the 2023 deadline and sent the left-hander Jordan Montgomery and relief Chris Stratton to Texas. Baseball America currently ranks him as the fifth-best prospect in the system. He is hitting .253/.313/.438 with 20 home runs, 23 doubles, three triples, nine steals (in 13 attempts), a 23.1% strikeout rate and a 5.9% walk rate in 528 at-bats this season. BA describes Saggese as a “bat-first middle infielder” with an aggressive approach but above-average contact skills and a knack for hitting the ball.

Although he has filled all three infield positions to the left of first base, Saggese’s primary position in the minors was second base. He has spent more time at shortstop than second base this season, perhaps to diversify his skills, but Masyn Winn‘s breakthrough has solidified Shortstop at Busch Stadium and Nolan Arenado remains firmly anchored at the hot corner. Saggese’s clearest path to a regular position with the Cardinals will be at second base, which according to scouting reports is his best position anyway. In the long run, he has competition, especially in the form of Nolan Gormanbut the hard-hitting Gorman has struggled this season and has not yet made his mark as the Cards’ future second baseman.

Gorman’s problems reached a boiling point last month when he was relegated to Triple-A. The Cardinals are using versatile Brendan Donovan at second base since then, but Donovan has been hampered by a recent foot injury and could (speculatively) end up on the injured list. Even if Donovan avoids an IL stint, calling Saggese up to the majors gives the Cardinals both a short-term alternative and a look at a potential key player in their future infield.

Saggese also offers Winn some insurance at shortstop in case Donovan either misses a few more games – he was absent on Sunday – or goes on the injured list. Before Saggese’s move José Fermin was the only shortstop option on the roster besides Winn and Donovan. If Donovan were to be out for a period of time, Fermin would have had to step in as a backup at second base, leaving the Cards with no real replacement for Winn at the shortstop position.

Saggese would have been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason and would have been certain to be selected, so the Cardinals were always going to add him to the roster before the mid-November protection period. The current health of their infield group may have forced the decision a little sooner, but that will only help Saggese get some action against big league pitchers late in the season – a notable development for him, as he almost certainly would have been called up to the major leagues sometime in 2025 anyway. He obviously won’t receive a full year of service at that point, so Saggese is still on track to become a free agent no earlier than the 2030-31 offseason and no earlier than the 2027-28 offseason to be eligible for arbitration.