Seth Maness to DL, Sam Tuivailala to St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that reliever Seth Maness is being placed on the 15-day Disabled List with a right elbow strain. Amazingly, this is the 12th time since July 1 that a Cardinal has found himself on the DL.

Replacing Maness in the bullpen for the time being is Sam Tuivailala, who has a 5.44 ERA this year with the Memphis Redbirds and is tied for third in the Pacific Coast League with 17 saves.

Seth Maness has had his struggles at times this year but has pitched fairly well recently. In 29 relief appearances, Maness sports a 3.41 ERA. While he has been a fairly low-leverage relief pitcher as of late, this move does mean one less veteran reliever at manager Mike Matheny's disposal. Unlike Maness, whose game is primarily built around control, Tuivailala is a more powerful pitcher and goes far higher on the radar gun. So while this move may create more excitement for Cardinals relievers, it is yet to be determined if it'll create more effectiveness.

Ed. Update: Seth Maness is going to have Tommy John surgery, per Jen Langosch, which is unfortunate news for the Cardinals right-hander.