Cardinals infielder Yairo Munoz has disappeared, and subsequently been released by the organization.

Munoz was facing an uphill battle of making the roster anyways, but after starting off spring well, Munoz popped a hamstring running to first base, and Mike Shildt said he was to miss a decent amount of time. However, Munoz, according to his agent, “saw the writing on the wall,” and decided to return home to the Dominican Republic. However, Munoz did not tell anyone before leaving, and the team only realized four days later when he did not show up for testing on his hamstring. Munoz was then released by the Cardinals soon after finding out about his disappearance. 

Munoz had a similar event with his winter league team over the offseason, where he simply left without mentioning anything. Shildt said that he was surprised by Munoz leaving, as the two had good conversation about playing time and such. He followed that up with expressing concern with Munoz well being. GM John Mozeliak reiterated the same thing, and when he was asked about why he released Munoz, he said that Munoz had to have consequences for leaving the team, and that is what he got. 

As for Munoz’ whereabouts, not even his agent knows for sure where he went. Likely, he went home for a few weeks to think about his future, but there isn’t a certainty behind that. There is also no word on if Munoz wants to continue playing, or will call it a career after being released.