ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals are calling up one of their best power-hitting prospects to replace a player heading to the injured list.
Juan Yepez, the Cardinals No. 6 prospect, will join the Cardinals in Kansas City to replace shortstop Edmundo Sosa on the active roster. The Cardinals placed Sosa on the 10-day injured list, and MLB.com Cardinals reporter John Denton reported that the move was COVID-related.
"Utility IF Edmundo Sosa and four medical staffers exhibited COVID symptoms and ultimately tested positive for the virus," he tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Yepez hit his ninth home run of the season for the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate in Memphis during a Tuesday afternoon game. His 26 RBIs lead the team. Only top prospect Nolan Gorman has more home runs for the Memphis Redbirds with 11.
This is the second time Yepez has been called up to the Cardinals' big-league roster. He was on the Cardinals' bench in their loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2021 Wild Card game but never entered the game.
Yepez was acquired by the Cardinals in a 2017 trade that sent Matt Adams and cash considerations to the Atlanta Braves. He was in MLB.com's top 30 prospects list in the Cardinals organization in 2020 and 2021 before making a leap into the top 10 for the 2022 season.
The 24-year-old has played games at first base, third base, left field and designated hitter for the Memphis Redbirds this season. He will wear No. 36.
Sosa, 26, has had a rough start to the season, posting a batting average of .160 with no extra-base hits in 10 games played. He had a .271 average in 113 games for the Cardinals in 2021.
Pitcher Steven Matz, who started for the Cardinals on Monday, was placed on the bereavement list Tuesday. Lefty Packy Naughton was called up from Memphis to replace him.
The Cardinals start a two-game series with the Kansas City Royals at 7:10 Tuesday night.
