After a series win against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals have climbed back to the .500 mark.
Now sitting at an even 72-72 record, the Cardinals are running out of time to make a postseason push. As they are set to take on a hungry Seattle Mariners team on Monday, St. Louis is 4.5 games behind the New York Mets for the last spot in the NL Wild Card race.
While the Cards attempt to maintain their winning ways, the team received fortunate news on first baseman Alec Burleson.
Alec Burleson expected to make return on Monday against Mariners
After winning four of their last five on Sunday, The Athletic's Katie Woo reported that the Cardinals are expecting to get first baseman Alec Burleson back after missing the last nine games due to right wrist inflammation.
Burleson, 26, received an injection that helped with the wrist discomfort after landing on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 29. He went through on-field workouts and won't need a Triple-A rehab assignment.
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This is huge news for the Cardinals while they continue to stay relevant in the playoff race. Burleson leads St. Louis this season in batting average (.286) and slugging percentage (.451), while also having career-highs in on-base percentage (.337) and OPS (.788). Through 122 games in 2025, he's hit 16 home runs and 60 RBI.
The Cardinals are still waiting on the return of third baseman Nolan Arenado (shoulder strain) and utility man Brendan Donovan (groin strain), but Burleson's progress will hopefully start a pattern in players returning from injuries.