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Gorman, 25, was moved to the 10-day IL Saturday with lower back pain. Infelder Thomas Saggese, who was optioned Friday before the Cardinals opened a three-game road series against the Diamondbacks, was recalled in a corresponding move.

The IL stint, which is retroactive to Friday, marks the second time Gorman has landed on the IL for a back injury. The other came in mid-August during the 2023 season. The latest stay on the IL for Gorman, who missed under two weeks in April for a right hamstring strain, comes amid a stretch where he is batting .245 with eight homers, a .500 slugging percentage and an .833 OPS in 34 games since the start of June.

“It’s frustrating, but I think I can mentally overcome it,� Gorman told the Post-Dispatch on Friday night when asked about the factors an injury plays in limiting a rhythm in production. “I’ve worked a lot on the mental side of things and making sure I’m ready in different ways (more) than just swinging a bat and taking ground balls. Whether it’s visualization, seeing pitches off the Trajekt. There are a lot of things we can do to keep me in the mindset that I was before.�

“He’s had stretches where it looks good, but staying available and healthy is still, in itself, a big part of this game at this level,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said on Saturday.

Gorman was scheduled to start at second base on Friday but was scratched around three hours before first pitch as he dealt with inflammation in his back that had flared up on Thursday. Following a loss on Friday to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field, Marmol said Gorman’s back pain would be “something ongoing� and noted that it was “not looking great.�

Gorman said getting inflammation in his back to calm is a key step for him. He is expected to fly back to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ on Sunday rather than traveling with his team to Colorado for the second leg of their two-city road trip. The 25-year-old infielder has been prescribed anti-inflammatory medication and is expected to rest and go through treatment with the team’s medical staff while in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. He will be reevaluated Monday to determine if an injection is needed, Marmol said.

“We had a pretty good idea that this was going to be a little bit more than just a couple of days, just (with) how he was feeling, and the fact that it flared up on him the day before the break. It felt good for two days (and) flared up on him again,� Marmol said before Saturday’s game at Chase Field.

Gorman said his back felt fine over the All-Star break before it tightened up on him Thursday. The discomfort did not subside Friday morning, leading to his scratch from starting duties in the Cardinals’ road opener in Arizona and the placement on the IL.

“It’s not ideal, but it is what it is now,� Gorman said on Saturday of his IL placement.

Gorman has dealt with back pain since 2020, when he was in the minors. He’s found ways to manage the issues over a season, but a different role this season is something he feels may have created a new layer in managing his back.

Because of inconsistent playing time through the first two months of the season, Gorman said he would take more groundballs than he had before because he wanted to “move around.� When he saw increased playing time in June, a month during which he slashed .256/.341/.526 in 25 games, he kept the same routine he had through the first two months of the season.

“I can’t really put a finger on it ... but groundballs are the only thing that I’ve done different from last year to this year,� Gorman said on Friday night.

In the only other instance Gorman landed on the IL for a back injury since his arrival in the majors in 2022, the infielder was sidelined for less than two weeks before returning. Knowing how to deal with it provides a baseline for how to get him back in the Cardinals’ lineup sooner rather than later.

“I was healthy all last year. We’ve got things in place that can help it out and just get on a good routine going forward,� Gorman said on Saturday.

Extra bases

The Cardinals signed right-hander Aaron Wilkerson to a minor league contract and assigned him to Class AAA Memphis. Wilkerson, 36, made 18 starts and had a 4.17 ERA for the Reds’ Class AAA affiliate this season before being released on Friday. Wilkerson debuted in the majors in 2017 with the Brewers and made 14 appearances for Milwaukee from 2017 to 2019. He’s spent nine seasons pitching in the minors, two seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, and one season in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball.

Cardinals prospects Branneli Franco and Edward Guribe were named Dominican Summer League All-Stars. Franco, 18, was the Cardinals’ headline international signee in 2024 when the window to sign players opened that January. Franco has a 2.57 ERA in five relief appearances this year. Guribe, 18, signed as an international free agent in 2024 and has posted an .878 OPS in 27 DSL games this year.