ST. LOUIS -- As expected, the Marlins placed second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a right lower back strain. Miami recalled Luke Williams from Triple-A Jacksonville as the corresponding roster move.

"If everything would go good, as soon as 10, 12, 14 days, something like that," manager Don Mattingly said of Chisholm’s possible return.

That would put Chisholm in line to return as early as July 9 against the Mets at Citi Field. It also would allow him to play up to nine games before the All-Star break. Entering Thursday's 2 p.m. ET deadline for Phase 1 of All-Star Game fan voting, Chisholm led all National League second basemen.

Chisholm, who was replaced in the second inning of Tuesday night's game, underwent an MRI on Wednesday morning that revealed the extent of the injury. Postgame, Chisholm said he felt a little discomfort at the beginning of the season on a headfirst slide but had been fine until Friday, when he exited after five innings with back spasms.

The 24-year-old Chisholm returned to play the entirety of Saturday’s game, which coincided with the club’s Bahamian Heritage Celebration. According to Chisholm, these recent instances of discomfort have surfaced on check swings.

Asked how the pain felt on a scale from one to 10, Chisholm on Tuesday said, “It's really up there.” He went on to say it’s “just any kind of movement right now. It’s very uncomfortable.” He was not available to discuss the MRI results Wednesday.

"I don't know exactly the treatment plan, what they'll be doing, I know that they'll have some sort of plan," said Mattingly, whose 14-year career was cut short due to back trouble. "Rest is kind of the old school way of like, 'Rest it, and it'll get better.' Maybe partially, but nowadays, it's a lot more strength and condition it, strengthen around it, that type of thing. It happened for some reason, right? I think that's what you find out. I can speak personally on that one. It happens for a reason, and then you have to do the work and you strengthen the core, has to get strong to be able to protect it. That's what happens to a lot of guys."

If there's any silver lining to losing Chisholm, the club's leader in homers (14) and RBIs (45), it's that Brian Anderson returned from a mild disk bulge in his back Monday and Joey Wendle (right hamstring strain) will rejoin the Marlins sometime this weekend in Washington -- barring a setback -- per Mattingly.

During Chisholm's absence, the Marlins can use utility player Jon Berti, who started at second base for Wednesday's series finale against the Cardinals, or Wendle at second. Wendle also can play shortstop or third base. Anderson can play third and the corner-outfield spots. Erik González and Williams also have positional versatility.

"It just gives us the flexibility to do what we want," Mattingly said. "We know Bert and Andy can both go to the outfield. I think the combination it could be all four of them playing, three in the infield, one in the outfield. Or it could be three out of four. There's basically three spots, four guys to allow us to give [shortstop Miguel Rojas] days, he needs some things like that. But it will be nice to get those guys back because it gives us a combination of things we can do with the infield, outfield."