Arenado day-to-day after exiting with right elbow contusion

MIAMI -- Nolan Arenado exited the Cardinals' 4-3 loss to the Marlins on Wednesday afternoon with a right elbow contusion after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning. X-rays taken at loanDepot park were negative and he is listed as day-to-day.

Arenado, who had gone 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base, wore the first pitch he saw from Huascar Brazoban to lead off the eighth inning -- a 94.6 mph sinker. Arenado immediately went down, holding his right arm -- the pitch hit him right on one of the nerves in his elbow, missing the bone but causing his hand to sort of cramp up.

“I feel OK,” Arenado said. “There's no break, but it kind of got me, like, in the nerve, so my hand kind of went into a claw and it's kind of hard to move my fingers right now. … [I felt] kind of like numbness, and like I said, it's actually kind of hard to move my fingers right now, because it hit the nerve. So yeah, I don't know. I haven't had it happen before -- I've gotten hit before, but haven't got hit like that.”

Less than a week prior, Arenado had undergone X-rays after he was hit in his right hand on Thursday in Pittsburgh. Arenado has been solid lately, hitting .296 in his past seven games. His glove and bat have been crucial for the Cards, who dropped just below .500 (36-37) with Wednesday’s loss.

Arenado is hoping to be back in action sometime this weekend, though he acknowledged that it will depend on how his arm reacts to rest in the coming days. The Cardinals play the Giants on Thursday at Rickwood Field before returning to St. Louis for an off-day Friday and the final two games vs. San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday.

“Probably gonna be pretty sore,” Arenado said. “It sucks that it's my throwing hand, so I don't know. I don't know how long it's gonna be. Hopefully there's no IL stint, but, you know, it's gonna probably be a few days. So hopefully I can get back Saturday. Or for some reason if it feels really great, tomorrow or something. I don't know.”