Hot rookie:

“He’ll do soft toss (batting practice) today and some other baseball activities. He hasn’t done any live hitting yet, but he’s close to being able to be activated. We could use him as a pinch-runner. It’s more or a probability than a possibility. I don’t think the first time you see him will be as our starting center fielder.”

Wednesday’s 7:10 p.m. middle game of the three-game series features one of the major leagues’ hottest starting pitchers in Cardinals’ rookie righthander Luke Weaver (6-1, 1.89 earned-run average). Weaver’s 5-2 win over the Reds on Thursday in St. Louis was his sixth straight win- ning start, tied for the lon- gest active winning streak in the majors and tied with veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright for the longest by a St. Louis pitcher this season.

Weaver is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA, 42 strikeouts and four walks over his last five starts, the first pitcher to log those levels over a five-start span since Dodger left-hander Clayton Kershaw in May 2016. According to Elias Sports Bureau, as reported by the Cardinals, the only rookie with a comparable span since 1913 was Roy Oswalt from Aug. 19 through Sept. 9, 2001.

Reds rookie right-hander Rookie Davis (1-2, 7.71) will be making his second career appearance and first start against St. Louis. Davis pitched the fifth and sixth innings of Cincinnati’s 13-4 loss to the Cardinals on Sept. 12, giving up a home run to Paul Dejong and RBI single by Yadier Molina.