St. Louis Cardinals star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was a late scratch prior to Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers due to lower-back stiffness.
Goldschmidt was initially switched from first base to designated hitter before being pulled from the lineup. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said the move was precautionary.
Goldschmidt told reporters he would be available to pinch-hit Tuesday night if needed.
“It comes up sometimes, and I think I missed a game with it last year, and hopefully it’ll be good to go (Wednesday),” Goldschmidt said.
Earlier in the day, Goldschmidt was named National League Player of the Week after batting .467 (14-for-30) with four homers, three doubles and 11 RBIs in seven games.
Also, Goldschmidt is leading NL first basemen in All-Star voting after tabulations released Tuesday. He has 930,441 votes, well ahead of second-place Pete Alonso (602,321) of the New York Mets.
Goldschmidt, a six-time All-Star, leads the NL with a .339 batting average. He also has 16 home runs and 58 RBIs in 66 games.
–Field Level Media