The Cardinals reinstated Yepez (forearm) from the 15-day injured list Wednesday and optioned him to Triple-A Memphis, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Yepez was expected to come off the IL on Tuesday, but the Cardinals pushed his activation back a day after he contended with an illness over the weekend. Though the rookie is now seemingly over both the ailment and the right forearm strain that first sent him to the IL on July 15, the Cardinals don't have a spot in the everyday lineup available for him and will instead have him report to Triple-A so he can play regularly. Lars Nootbaar's emergence as the team's everyday right fielder along with Nolan Gorman and Albert Pujols forming a productive platoon at designated hitter have closed off Yepez's primary paths to at-bats.