“You could just tell he’s beat down a little bit (by) how they’re going about his work,” Matheny said. “He’s a guy who wants to grind just like every other guy we have on this team. He’s also appreciative of the fact that we see he’s a little beat down and if we can find a way to buy him a little time to get right, I think, we’re going to end up seeing benefits down the road.”

In Gyorko’s place each day has been Greg Garcia, and though he was an All-Star at third Matt Carpenter has not been shifted over there to clear a spot for Luke Voit at first. Matheny said the preference is to stick with Carpenter on the right side of the infield because “at some point we need to keep him contained with how many positions we want him to be ready to go at.”

EXTRA BASES

To make room on the active roster for Thursday’s starter Luke Weaver the Cardinals returned reliever Mike Mayers to Class AAA Memphis. Mayers was up Wednesday as an extra arm if needed, a stand-in before Weaver’s turn. … Delvin Perez, the Cardinals’ first-round pick a year ago, was returned to rookie-level Johnson City after a tuneup with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals. Perez, 18, hit .238 with a .320 on-base percentage in 11 games with the GCL affiliate. The Cardinals wanted to give him a chance at a lower level to improve his swing and readiness for the Appalachian League. … Junior Fernandez, a power-armed righthanded starter for High-A Palm Beach, was removed from his start Wednesday due to soreness in his arm, near his biceps. He will go through a battery of exams before returning to the mound, and the Cardinals will use the opportunity to save him a few innings. Fernandez, 20, is 5-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 16 starts for the PB-Cards.

A message from Derrick Goold Pitchers and catchers report one day a year. We cover the rest. Wherever baseball takes us, The Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com will bring you there with unmatched year-round, 24-hour, and award-winning coverage of the Cardinals and Major League Baseball. Subscribe today: Just $1 a month

Keep up with the latest Cardinals coverage from our award-winning team of reporters and columnists. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.