The Cardinals are dropping outfielder Nelson Velázquez from the MLB roster, reports Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat. Waiver pickup Everson Pereira will be activated for tomorrow’s game against the Rockies. Velázquez is out of minor league options, so the Cards will need to designate him for assignment (or have already placed him on waivers) to take him off the active roster.

Velázquez has been on the big league roster since late May. He has worked mostly as a right-handed bench bat. Velázquez has connected on four home runs while hitting .216/.289/.432 across 83 plate appearances. He has fanned 25 times while taking seven walks. Velázquez showed some power early after being called up but is coming off a rough month, as he went 3-32 in July. He went 1-4 in his only appearance over six games in August.

St. Louis added Velázquez on an offseason minor league contract. He had a huge Spring Training but was a league average bat for two months in Triple-A before being called up. This was his first run at the major league level since 2024. A career .212/.287/.433 hitter in just shy of 700 plate appearances, Velázquez will be placed on waivers in the next few days.