The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates played the final of a three-game set on Wednesday afternoon in St. Louis. The Cardinals took the first two games of the series as they extended their winning streak to four.
However, the Cardinals saw a surprising scratch right before the game: Third baseman Nolan Arenado, per Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"Nolan Arenado has been scratched from the lineup. Nolan Gorman will replace him at 3B. There will be a reshuffling around the middle of the order. No reason was given immediately for the scratch."
Arenado's name has been tossed around in plenty of trade buzz, and fans immediately wondered if this meant a trade was going to go down.
However, Goold gave a new update shortly after revealing why Arenado was scratched, and it was due to back spasms.
Nolan Arenado was scratched due to back spasms, per #stlcards official. https://t.co/u7pc1sZVcN
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 7, 2025
The start time was 1:15 pm ET and the report from Goold came in at 1:09 pm ET, so it's certainly a bit of a surprise. Arenado was originally slated to hit fourth in the lineup, but now Nolan Gorman is filling in at third base and Wilson Contreras was moved into Arenado's spot in the lineup.
Arenado played on Tuesday night against the Pirates, going 1-for-4 with a run scored and three strikeouts.
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