Cardinals send Diaz to minors, call up Mejia

PHOENIX (AP) St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz was sent to Triple-A Memphis before Wednesday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with the club purchasing the contract of infielder Alex Mejia from Memphis.

Diaz was an All-Star last season, but had been in a hitting slump of late. He did not play until entering Tuesday's game as a late replacement, and manager Mike Matheny said before that game that Diaz was not seeing the ball well.

Nevertheless, Diaz, batting .260, was the Cardinals' leader in hits with 71 going into Wednesday's game. Mejia, 26, was named a Texas League All-Star earlier this month and will be making his major league debut when he sees action.

''Trying to get him right,'' manager Mike Matheny said of Diaz. ''This is a young player still. This game will catch everybody at some point if you're not able to keep moving forward. . Hopefully take advantage of those options to get him down and get him into a good place, and get him back.''

Paul DeJong will see the majority of the playing time at shortstop, Matheny added.