Cardinals place Leake on DL with shingles
The St. Louis Cardinals have placed right-hander Mike Leake on the 15-day disabled list as he deals with shingles, the club announced Monday.
The move is retroactive to Aug. 22, and the Cardinals are calling up left-hander Dean Kiekhefer to fill the roster spot.
Leake hasn't pitched since Aug. 21, when he went seven scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, surrendering one walk, while striking out eight and driving in two runs with an RBI single.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny hinted on Sunday that Leake would likely hit the disabled list, and worried about the length of time he'd miss considering the nature of his absence.
"A lot of it is going to be how he handles his body," Matheny told reporters. "His body is fighting a very tough infection, because he's wiped out. When he's like that, you can't even start talking about pitching."
This season, Leake is 9-9 with a 4.56 ERA over 152 innings.