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The St. Louis Cardinals placed right-hander Joe Kelly on the 15-day DL on Thursday morning with a left hamstring strain, according to a team announcement. Kelly left his start on Wednesday against the Brewers after sustaining the injury when he tried to beat out a bunt in the fifth inning, and though it initially appeared to be a minor injury, the team decided that Kelly would need at least a couple of weeks to recover.
Kelly, who won the fifth spot in the Cardinals rotation this spring over Carlos Martinez, currently leads the league in ERA with a 0.59 mark over his first three starts. His success this season is a continuation of his breakout 2013 campaign, when the right-hander posted a 2.59 ERA while splitting duty between the bullpen and the rotation.
The Cardinals recalled rookie right-handers Eric Fornataro and Jorge Rondon from Triple-A Memphis in a corresponding move, the team announced, while also optioning reliever Keith Butler to Triple-A. The two call-ups should help in the bullpen's recovery after it was overworked due to Kelly's early exit on Wednesday, but the question of who will replace the right-hander in the rotation has yet to be definitively answered.