St. Louis Cardinals Aledmys Diaz.    Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

St. Louis Cardinals Aledmys Diaz. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

X-rays on Cardinals rookie shortstop Aledmys Diaz’s right hand show a fracture in his right thumb, and is not only headed to the disabled list, but will be out much longer than the minimum 15 days.  The timing is never good for an injury, but it comes at a time when the Cardinals roster was just about back to full strength with Jhonny Peralta and Matt Carpenter set to return soon from rehab assignments.

Diaz got hit with a 95-mph fastball from Marlins right-hander Andrew Cashner. Following the game, initial X-rays taken at Marlins Park did not show a fracture. That changed with a visit to a hand specialist.

The All-Star Diaz was hitting .312 with 57 RBIs and 64 runs scored.

Peralta is set to be activated for Tuesday night’s game against Cincinnati.