Cardinals send Boggs to Triple-A

Published 11:34 pm Monday, May 23, 2011

The St. Louis Cardinals have sent former Dalton High and University of Georgia standout Mitchell Boggs to Triple-A Memphis to make room for a backup catcher.

On Monday afternoon, St. Louis put backup catcher Gerald Laird on the 15-day disabled list with a broken right index finger and activated second baseman Skip Schumaker, who had been on the DL since April 16 with a strained right triceps.

The Cardinals were 8-2 in Laird’s starts before he was injured Sunday when hit by a pitch. Tony Cruz was brought up from Memphis to fill in for Laird.

To make room for another catcher, Boggs, who was 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA and three saves during a brief role as team closer, was sent down. This is his first stint in the minors since 2009.

Boggs was included in a bullpen-by-committee system instituted by manager Tony LaRussa after returning closer Ryan Franklin struggled early in the season. After converting 27 of 29 save opportunities in 2010, Franklin began to struggle in April.

“I have kind of taken the attitude of coming in with the same attitude all year,” Boggs said during an interview with The Daily Citizen during the Cardinals’ visit to Turner Field for a three-game series earlier this month. “I’ve had some opportunities and saved a few games and then blew one the other day. It all comes around. No matter if I am coming into the game in the sixth inning or the ninth inning, my job is the same — get people out.”

During that interview, Boggs also expressed making the most of his chance to pitch in the big leagues.

“Nobody has higher expectations of me than myself,” he said. “I certainly feel like I have the opportunity to be a very good major league pitcher. I think it all depends on how hard you work and take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you.”

Boggs has pitched in the majors since going 6-4 with 4.83 ERA at Memphis in 2009.

In a four-year career with St. Louis, Boggs is 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA in 19 2/3 innings pitched. He began his career in St. Louis as a starter — he won the first start of his career in the majors, winning 7-2 at Cincinnati on June 10, 2008 — but was moved into a full-time bullpen role in 2010.