Cardinals Star Forced To Leave Game Due To Nagging Injury; Whats Next For Slugger?

St. Louis can't seem to catch a break this season

The St. Louis Cardinals were bitten by the injury bug once again Friday night.

Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado was forced to leave the club's loss against the Philadelphia Phillies due to a nagging lower-back injury. Arenado currently is listed as day-to-day, but this isn't the first time the injury has popped up for the star.

"He's been battling it for weeks now and he refuses to come out of any game or come out of the lineup," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "He preps for every game and he's been able to play through it. It started to lock up a little bit there and I didn't want to push through it."

St. Louis currently is in last place in the National League Central and already has turned its focus toward the 2024 campaign. At this point, it could make some sense to shut Arenado down for the time being to fully heal rather than continue to push himself with an ailing back. The Cardinals likely will be one of the busiest teams this upcoming offseason as the club hopes to get back to the postseason next year so it would be much more important to protect Arenado's health now to make sure fully heals up. 

At this point, there doesn't seem to be too much cause for concern -- especially because of the fact that he is listed as day-to-day -- but with St. Louis currently 17 games below .500, maybe Arenado should get a little time off to fully heal.

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