The Cardinals have been without right-hander Dakota Hudson all season after the right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery late last September, but the 26-year-old revealed on Instagram last night that he’s progressed to facing live hitters (hat tip: Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, on Twitter). Hudson is working out at the team’s Spring Training facility, per Jones, who adds that there’s a “slim but real chance” he could return to the team late in the 2021 season.
That’d make for one of the quicker Tommy John returns we’ve seen in recent years. Hudson had has operation on Sept. 28, 2020, and we’ve increasingly seen pitchers take closer to 14 months to return. Of course, even if Hudson were to return, he likely wouldn’t be an option for the Cardinals until the final few weeks of the season. Any innings from Hudson would be a bonus, and it’s worth noting that we don’t know what type of role he’d have if he indeed made it back. It’s feasible the Cards would want to limit his pitch counts, so fans shouldn’t bank on Hudson stepping in and salvaging what’s been an injury-decimated starting staff.
A few more notes on the Cardinals’ pitching staff…
- Alex Reyes has stepped up as an All-Star closer for the Cards in 2021, delivering on the potential that has long made him one of the game’s most prized pitching prospects. However, the right-hander tells Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he’d still like the opportunity to pitch out of the rotation in 2022. The 26-year-old Reyes has pitched to a minuscule 1.52 ERA and gone 20-for-20 in save chances this season, although his sky-high 18.2 percent walk rate still leaves plenty of room for improvement. This year’s 41 1/3 innings are also the most Reyes has thrown in a single season since 2016, as injuries have decimated the early phases of his career. Reyes totaled just 87 innings combined from 2017-20. The Cardinals control him via arbitration through 2023.
- Manager Mike Shildt cast some doubt on Jordan Hicks’ recovery timeline in his latest update on the injured righty (via Zachary Silver of MLB.com). Hicks only recently resumed playing catch, and a full return to baseball activities isn’t particularly close, it seems. Silver notes that Schildt indicated that it “remains to be seen” whether Hicks will make it back to the roster in 2021 at all. Hicks hit the injured list in early May with inflammation in his elbow, but additional testing led to an injection that shut him down entirely for a period of six weeks. The 24-year-old, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and opted out of the 2020 season for health concerns (diabetes), has thrown 10 innings in 2021. He’s allowed six runs on five hits and 10 walks with 10 strikeouts. Like Reyes, he’s controllable through the 2023 campaign.
Let’s get going boys!
3 days of all the GMs getting together in the same city and nary a trade rumor?
Trade related matters or anything that takes away from ASG marketing spotlight is strongly discouraged. Floodgates shall open soon!
Rushing Tim Hudson back after Tommy John Surgery is Crazy !!! With that in mind; It’s obvious John Mozeliak and his front office just see their players as a piece of meat they have purchased.
Especially if the Front Office is counting on Hudson coming back just so they can save the cost of purchasing or trading for a Starting Pitcher who can throw strikes.
If there is the tiniest speculation that Hudson could hurt his arm in any way by coming back this year, he should be kept in physical therapy stretching his elbow.
IMHO: Don’t push Hudson. Very risk versus virtually no real gain.
*high risk
Cardinals need to retool in order to get back on top of things by as early as next year.
Waiting for someone to comment that they need to tear it down and rebuild
tHeY nEeD tO REbUiLd!!!! bLoW iT uP
Ahh. Reyes. Just another fantastic example of why u always trade prospects at peak value. Cardinals window is closed now, but when it was wide open Reyes topped out as the #6 prospect in all of baseball. Let him be the centerpiece of a trade to acquire a front end starter and cards would have had their pick of any available. 4 years later and he has logged 114 min innings.
Why on Earth would you trade prospects at peak value? That makes literally no sense at all. It’s like you have zero grasp of hindsight. If you traded every prospect at peak value, you’d end up with a hyper inflated payroll with underperforming veterans.
Or you trade for young controllable proven major league talent. Luis Castillo was available last offseason and Bieber could be available this deadline. Neither one of those players would be breaking the bank this season or next and a player like that is exactly what cardinals needed in 2017-19 when they where competitive.
Peak value is understanding your prospect is over valued at a certain time due to either short term success, competition or just draft hype.
Bot, for your plan to work, you would need a never ending supply of top prospects as you are constantly trading 6 years of control for 1 or 2 years of control. I would guess you would need to draft and develop talent a click or two better than Tampa. And the controllable, proven major league talent you are trading for cannot get hurt or regress. And, as noted numerous times on this thread, you are going to run a really high payroll.
Bot, if a team always trades prospects at peak value for front end starters, etc, how do they manage their payroll? Under this plan, a team would constantly be trading inexpensive, cost controlled players for established players making much higher salaries. There must be another component to the plan that I’m overlooking.
You’re kind of arguing against absurdity. There is no way whatsoever to run a team by trading all your prospects. It’s such a bad strategy that the league would step in and stop you if you tried. Bot is out on a nonsensical limb here with no leg to stand on. So ridiculous it’s practically ad absurdum or something.
Do you understand the success rate of prospects ? Here is the 5 players ranked before Reyes in 2017.
Benintendi
Y Moncada
G Torres
D Swanson
A Rosario
All 5 teams with players ranked higher would have been better off trading their elite prospect too.
Rosario alone went from top 5 prospect good enough to land anyone on the trade market to a throw in on a trade. Benintendi was traded for a couple no body’s.
#7 and 8 that year was jp Crawford and v Robles. Top 8- and none reached potential.
Mic drop !
@bot
The one thing you are not considering is the money factor. If it is for an established player you are taking on payroll and usually costs more than the prospect being dealt. Even if the prospect isn’t a stud you have a contributor locked up on the cheap for a few years and can allocate resources elsewhere.
Drop the mic all you want. We’re all aware that many if not most prospects don’t work out, that’s factored in, not a reason to give up on the entire concept. Your plan won’t work for so many reasons. Money, as so many here point out, is just one. All I will say is that every expert and GM disagrees with you so, is that me picking the mic back up? How does this nonsense work?
A bit too early to give up on those guys imo. Moncada, Gleyber, Swanson…those guys are rather young to be used for this example.
Then they were never top 10 prospects in all of baseball. That’s my whole point – to sell high
It’s y’all that aren’t considering the money. If amad Rosario can net u any player on the trade market at his peak value- than his prospect value is north of 10 million dollars. When they finally unloaded him – he was the 4th piece of a trade. Valued at less than 2 million. Mets lost millions sitting on him.
Cubs 100% would have paid a yuge chuck of darvish salary, prob 20 mil or more, if SD would have traded the cj abrams. That was his value. Today he’s out for the season after dipping a 100 points in his batting avarage. Not saying SD should have traded him for 20 mil but his value is surely less today.
Idk about you but high end closers are just as important as an ace pitcher.
So really good pitchers who go 70 innings are as important as really good pitchers who pitch 200 innings?
Closets are not as important as starters. The number of innings pitch makes the point obvious. The idea that closets were that important went out with the 90’s and is part of the reasons teams did stupid things like convert Righetti to a reliever.
He’s good but not elite. He walks to many to be considered elite. And what’s it matter y’all got a good closer when the team isn’t going anywhere?
Reyes is a Cardinals mainstay. That was the goal with him. So he will be until further notice. Will he start next year. Probably.
That makes cardinals a lesser version of Braves as they are better at acquiring talent than StL. 2 puffed up full of themselves franchises who are lucky to develop 1 in 5 highly regarded prospects and fizzle out early in playoffs every season
Only the Giants and RSox top the Cardinals 2 WS titles early on this century. They are also rarely bad, which is saying something for a team that does not have the built-in economic advantages of NY or LA location.
I’ll thumbs up that. Winning championships is what it’s all about!
It’s a lie though about the economic disadvantage. StL sometimes has more fans in the seats in any given year than yanks or Dodgers. StL could run a 200 mil payroll- it’s just their strategy not too.
Dodgers lead the league in attendance year in and year out. However, it’s not just about attendance. It’s about TV revenue and big market teams make a great deal more there. Not even close.
It doesn’t have to be close when max payroll is 210. Braves and cards can carry that easy when second hand teams like Mets angels and Phillies can. Tampa/Oakland or any team can easily carry a 100 million + payroll every season. It’s just their business model to not do so. Just like it’s StL business model to convince u they can’t spend 200m.
I will agree with you to a point. Cards can afford more, however, their TV revenue is at best 50% of what the big market teams receive.
Dave Dombrowski has entered the chat…. wants to know if you’re available for hire? He sees a good fit between the two of you!
Why trade good pitching when that is what Cards need. Easy fix. Lengthen Reyes and put him in the starting rotation. Closer is only needed if the starter does his job. Fact is Reyes seems to do better after he has faced a batter or two. He would excel as a starter. Not rocket science…Cards need starting pitching, there is a perfect option.
You don’t always trade your elite prospects, but you always trade some. The trick, which the Rays and Dodgers and a handful of teams do brilliantly (definitely NOT the Cards), is to know your own prospects well enough to pick the right ones to keep.
Jerry Rice says hi…
Lupus, Rudy Stein and Ogelby
Cards currently 7 1/2 games out of a wildcard spot and considering rushing back Hicks and Hudson is ridiculous. Management failed to have depth in the system so use injuries as an excuse give them the year to get 100% don’t trade off any young assets and try again next year
Where do you get that? I see an update on their progress, nothing saying they are being rushed, or even that the team is expecting anything out of them this year.
The injuries are absurd and the y are only 7 1/2 back…That there is miraculous.
Relievers stating they want to be Starters is money talking. Sad to say that a fifth starter gets paid more than a quality reliever when the relief pitcher pitches in more higher leverage innings. Your team is only as good as the last guy with the ball.
I would disagree. Team is only as good as your starting pitching. If you are behind really doesn’t matter who your closer is. Fact is Reyes is better after he has faced a batter or two. He has 3-4 quality pitches. Cards need starting pitching. Reyes should be lengthen and in the starting rotation as soon as possible.
Stymeedone Read what I said again. I didn’t say they were rushing them back I said considering it is ridiculous. It’s all good here, we don’t need to argue
If Cards want to get back in the race two things need improvement. Pitchers throwing strikes and challenging hitters and hitters not swinging at pitches well out of the strike zone, even when ahead in the count. Team philosophy here on both counts is ridiculous.
I actually don’t think that the pitching philosophy at an organizational level is a big problem but I’d agree that a number of their pitchers don’t trust their stuff at this level.. Of course their control is obviously lacking too. I mean nobody is trying to walk a batter with the bases loaded they often just can’t throw strikes. Jeff Albert’s hitting philosophy I’d agree is absolutely an issue. It’s not that I’m completely against an “analytics” approach though I do think that a balance should be struck…What is striking to me is the lack of success by the offense ever since Albert took over in 2019…And just take a look at the numbers for every player in the lineup or that receives fairly regular AB’s….the drop off in their numbers since coming under the tutelage of Jeff Albert is eye opening to say the least..
AS far as hitting…perfect example in game tonight, Down 7-2, bases loaded. Bader sees 7 pitches only one of which was in the strike zone yet he strikes out. Just can’t happen if Cards want to win. This has been consistent through out the lineup going back over the last 200 games..
Pitching……Yadies philosophy…..fine with someone like Adam not with younger pitchers who throw hard but not with great control.
I hope Reyes can start next year and stay in the rotation. Dude is filthy.
I’m not sure what to make of the Jordan Hicks situation. He had Tommy John surgery nearly two years ago….was the surgery not successful? I mean most pitchers recover from the procedure in just over a year. I’m concerned that perhaps something isn’t quite right here.