ST. LOUIS -- Matt Holliday is back on the disabled list.
The St. Louis Cardinals placed the All-Star outfielder on the 15-day disabled list Thursday because of a recurrence of his right quadriceps injury.
General manager John Mozeliak said an MRI exam showed a Grade 2 strain, and Mozeliak wasn't sure how long Holliday would be sidelined. The GM said tests indicated the injury was not as severe as the initial one in June.
"We're still very hopeful that he will be able to contribute this year," Mozeliak said. "A lot will really be determined over the next week or two, and we'll see how it goes. When he was playing, you saw glimpses as to why he's important to this team."
The Cardinals were 41-21 with Holliday in the lineup and 23-16 without their No. 3 hitter entering Thursday night's game against the Colorado Rockies.
Kolten Wong, a leadoff man with 11 homers, was shifted to third in the lineup in place of Holliday. Matt Carpenter was scheduled to bat first.
Holliday was hurt while running to first base in the first inning Wednesday. He missed 31 games from June 9 to July 16, and the Cardinals were 18-13 in his absence.
Mozeliak said he wasn't sure whether Holliday had tried to return too soon, noting the player "passed all the tests to come back."
Infielder Greg Garcia was recalled from Triple-A Memphis, and first baseman Dan Johnson was designed for assignment to make room on the roster for newly acquired outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss.
Garcia is making his second appearance with the Cardinals this season. He appeared in 10 games from June 19 to July 3, batting .417 (5-for-12) with a tying, pinch-hit homer on June 26 against the Chicago Cubs.
The 25-year-old Garcia was batting .299 with a .404 on-base percentage and 33 RBIs in 81 minor league games.