ST. LOUIS _ The Cardinals made several coaching changes to reassess and rethink manager Mike Matheny's staff in the wake of a disappointing start to the season.
The Cardinals reassigned third-base coach Chris Maloney within the organization, and Mike Shildt will move from the quality control coach to the third-base coach box. Bill Mueller took a recent leave of absence, and he will not return to the same role as assistant hitting coach. Mark Budaska will take over in that role.
Ron "Pop" Warner will also join the coaching staff.
In addition to the coaching staff, the Cardinals designated Jhonny Peralta for assignment. They also removed Kolten Wong from the disabled list.
"You cannot blow the whole thing up," general manager John Mozeliak said. "But we had to do something different. ... I think the road trip definitely said we had to do something different. In our case, this was not working.
"Everybody is frustrated. This is not meeting our expectations."
The moves come on the Cardinals' first day back from one of the most difficult road trips in recent memory.
The Cardinals went 0-7 on the trip, losing series at Wrigley Field and in Cincinnati, while also tumbling from a winning record to six games beneath .500. It is the lowest the Cardinals have ever been in Mike Matheny's turn at manager, and it's the first time since the end of the 2007 season that they have had a record this poor this late in the season.
During the road trip, there wasn't a facet of the game that could support the Cardinals. The starting pitching faltered and frayed with an ERA greater than 7.00 and not one quality start. The manager twice removed a starter early in order to goose the substandard offense with a pinch-hitter, and still the Cardinals scored a total of 20 runs in the seven-day trip.
They allowed more than 40.
The bullpen ruptured in the final three games of the series in Cincinnati with a close game Wednesday coming apart on lefty Brett Cecil.
The Cardinals had to remove Peralta from the active roster in order to make room for Wong (elbow). Peralta is currently on waivers, and once he clears waivers the Cardinals will likely release him so that he can become a free agent. Mozeliak acknowledged that he did not spend any time seeing if there was a trade to be had for Peralta because of the urgency to make moves that altered the clubhouse.
It is the first time that Mozeliak has had to make a coaching staff move in the middle of the season.
"This is a breakdown on many levels," Mozeliak said. "What today represents is people are being held accountable for what we need to do."
