Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Alex Reyes To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

By Steve Adams | May 23, 2022 at 11:00pm CDT

Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes is staring down yet another injury-related setback, as he’s scheduled for surgery on his shoulder late this month, tweets Katie Woo of The Athletic. MLB.com’s John Denton first reported that Reyes would require surgery to repair his right shoulder (Twitter link).

Reyes met with renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday, and he confirmed a team recommendation that surgery will be required. The exact nature of the procedure has not yet been announced by the Cardinals. Woo adds that while the surgery is likely to end his season, there’s at least a small chance Reyes will be able to return late in the year.

It’ll be the third major surgery for Reyes in the past five years. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery back in Spring Training of 2019 and has since gone under the knife to repair a torn tendon in his latissimus dorsi muscle. Reyes also missed time with shoulder trouble back in 2020, though he didn’t require surgery at the time.

The expected shoulder procedure, then, is just the latest in a long line of physical ailments that have combined to derail what looked to be one of the sport’s most promising young talents. Reyes, for years, was heralded as a potential ace, frequenting top prospect rankings throughout his minor league tenure. Heading into the 2017 season, Baseball Prospectus ranked him as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, while Baseball America ranked him fourth and MLB.com ranked him sixth.

At that time, Reyes had barely retained his rookie and prospect status after an electrifying MLB debut in 2016, when he pitched 46 innings of 1.57 ERA ball. However, Reyes had Tommy John surgery before he had the chance to follow up on that debut. That surgery, paired with the previously mentioned lat and shoulder troubles, combined to limit Reyes to just 87 total innings from 2017-20 (big leagues and minors combined). He pitched a career-high 72 1/3 innings for the Cardinals in 2021, all coming as a reliever, leading the team with 29 saves. Reyes punched out more than 30% of his opponents but also issued walks at an untenable 16.4% clip.

The hope heading into the 2022 season was that Reyes, like Jordan Hicks, could potentially be stretched out to either again work as a starter or to provide a multi-inning option in high-leverage spots. This latest bout of shoulder trouble, however, nixed that possibility before it ever even truly began. Now, Reyes’ very future in the organization could be in question.

At 27 years of age (28 in August), Reyes has just 145 Major League innings under his belt. Despite that paltry total, he’ll reach five years of Major League service this season, due largely to the significant amount of time he’s spent on the Major League injured list. He’ll likely add another full season of IL time to that ledger. The Cards will be able to retain him via arbitration this winter, and given that he’s unlikely to pitch at all, he’d likely be in line for a repeat of this year’s $2.9MM salary. It’s a modest sum, but the Cards will still need to determine whether they’ll make that commitment to a player who has averaged 29 innings per year over his first five MLB campaigns.

Share 0 Retweet 16 Send via email0

Newsstand St. Louis Cardinals Alex Reyes

Tigers Re-Sign Drew Hutchison
Main
Astros Notes: Tucker, McCullers, Pena
View Comments (55)
Post a Comment

55 Comments

  1. Four4fore

    3 years ago

    Not shocking.

    7
    Reply
    • dadofdonnydownvote

      3 years ago

      How did Alex Reyes go undrafted? One thing I liked about the guy is that after getting busted twice for Mary Jane at least he admitted it and took responsibility where most MLB players do the “I have no idea how that ended up in my body nonsense”.

      Reply
      • 619bird

        3 years ago

        Reyes went to the Dominican for a year and signed international deal as I recall.

        1
        Reply
      • Curly Was The Smart Stooge

        3 years ago

        Someone please operate on my brain because I can’t fathom all this cutting on young pitchers as being acceptable. Go into politics, make money, no operations you just have to live with half the population hating you.

        Reply
  2. StlSwifty

    3 years ago

    Love the guy when he’s healthy, although I think it’s time the cardinals moved on. Wishing a speedy recovery for you Alex.

    5
    Reply
    • bighiggy

      3 years ago

      He’s not making alot and only taking up a 40 spot. Not alot to lose by holding on. If they need a roster spot I’d rather they dump Dickerson lol

      5
      Reply
  3. Damakibe

    3 years ago

    Dude has been snakebit by injuries. He’s definitely in the “what could have been” category.

    4
    Reply
  4. gray

    3 years ago

    He is the Buxton of the Cardinals.

    5
    Reply
    • gbs42

      3 years ago

      Minus the tremendous success when healthy.

      Reply
      • Get Off My Mound

        3 years ago

        Not true. His first season was downright fantastic. Small sample size, Buxton has played 100+ games once, and he wasnt downright elite that season, just like Reyes’ one full season was good not elite. Only in some of his many small sample size seasons has he been elite.

        1
        Reply
        • gbs42

          3 years ago

          Reyes’ first season was 46 IP. I’d love to see him healthy for an extended period, but I don’t see it happening.

          Reply
  5. gdbyers

    3 years ago

    One of the most frustrating players in stl history!

    3
    Reply
    • notnamed

      3 years ago

      carlos martinez

      2
      Reply
      • stollcm

        3 years ago

        Ankiel

        Reply
        • notnamed

          3 years ago

          ankiel had a career

          3
          Reply
        • hiflew

          3 years ago

          And Carlos Martinez didn’t?

          Reply
      • 17dizzy

        3 years ago

        Agreed on Martinez and Reyes are the most frustrating players in Stl. History. Add Carpenter’s final years. Add Brett Cecil’s 4 year contract. Holland, etc. etc.,

        Who mandated the Cardinals play these people. Who mandated retaining their contracts. Only one person!!! The man that issued all of the contracts. The only man who could terminate a contract??
        Or fire a winning coach because he wanted a new hitting coach!!

        How long does it take to see the common denominator of all of this?? ————— President of Baseball Operations—— John Mozeliak!!!!

        1
        Reply
    • MarkieFresh

      3 years ago

      Well there is Curt Flood with the publicity, lawsuits and resulting shift in baseball contracts. Cardinals team HOF now though.

      Reply
  6. Ol’ Uncle Charlie

    3 years ago

    Ugh. Guy just catch a freaking break.

    Reply
  7. FullMontilla

    3 years ago

    Assuming a season ending surgery, he’s getting into the age range where they may be able to put take him off the 40 man and pass him through the waiver wire after the surgery.

    Reply
    • Lets Go DBacks

      3 years ago

      Why wouldn’t they just put him on the IL if that is what the IL is for?

      2
      Reply
    • MLBAddict

      3 years ago

      If they put him on the 60-day IL that takes him off the 40-man until the offseason.

      Reply
  8. krumbledkookie

    3 years ago

    I hate seeing this happen to guys that have so much talent. This guy’s arm is electric, but he can’t catch a break to stay on the field.

    Reply
    • stymeedone

      3 years ago

      WAS electric. The future is unknown.

      Reply
      • notnamed

        3 years ago

        his arm is fine. his shoulder isn’t

        Reply
        • hiflew

          3 years ago

          Do you not remember the song Hambone? The arm bone’s connected to the shoulder bone. Doesn’t matter how good your arm is if the fulcrum used to generate power is broken.

          2
          Reply
        • notnamed

          3 years ago

          irrelevant

          Reply
        • hiflew

          3 years ago

          I’m not sure you know what that word means because it clearly doesn’t apply here.

          1
          Reply
        • notnamed

          3 years ago

          i’m not sure you understand his arm is fine, his shoulder isn’t, either.

          1
          Reply
  9. IjustloveBaseball

    3 years ago

    I guess the one silver lining is that Reyes hasn’t appeared to have any recurring issues involving his elbow and/or lat. Hopefully he can get his shoulder right following surgery, and put the injuries behind him.

    Reply
  10. tbone0816

    3 years ago

    I wish Cardinals would just simply release him!!

    Reply
    • Mystery Team

      3 years ago

      Why would they release him when they can just put him on the IL?

      2
      Reply
      • hiflew

        3 years ago

        Because maybe they realize they are going to non-tender him this off season and would prefer to just get it over with. I’m not saying that is what they SHOULD do, but it is an option.

        1
        Reply
    • cardsfan11

      3 years ago

      So the team your a fan of can claim him?

      Reply
  11. giantsphan12

    3 years ago

    This is the kind of player Zaidi has picked up in the last few years. Buy low, let them heal, and hope to catch them on the updraft after they heal.

    1
    Reply
  12. Dotnet22

    3 years ago

    There is zero chance he returns before season ends. He’ll hurt himself rehabbing.

    2
    Reply
    • stollcm

      3 years ago

      This unfortunately

      2
      Reply
  13. nottinghamforest13

    3 years ago

    The end.

    1
    Reply
  14. RobM

    3 years ago

    Uggh. Elbow surgeries are generally recoverable, with pitchers sometimes even returning stronger than before. Shoulder surgeries, however, are almost all bad, sometimes career ending. Hopefully all goes well.

    2
    Reply
  15. Mlbfan78

    3 years ago

    I hope it isn’t a torn labrum, Not that I’m anywhere near a mlb or even a milb pitcher, but I did have surgery to fix a torn labrum and it’s no fun, just getting back to normal takes a lot of work and rehab and that’s for a regular person, so imagine a professional athlete.

    Reply
  16. Dunedin020306

    3 years ago

    FRA-GEE-LAY.

    1
    Reply
  17. ericcarroll1

    3 years ago

    Time to cut bait. If he does well elsewhere, so be it.

    Reply
  18. bpskelly

    3 years ago

    He’s not costing the Cardinals much money, so it’s worth working him through this. The reality is he’s gone from prospect to suspect, and with the insane amount of injuries it’s hard to see a whole lot of upside left.

    Im comfortable the Cardinals won’t let him loose unless there’s just to much pitching coming up.

    1
    Reply
  19. The Saber-toothed Superfife

    3 years ago

    Can they trade guys on the IL?
    Shoulder bad.
    Alex good.

    Reply
  20. Hubert

    3 years ago

    You wonder if the way he was used last year–69 appearances–was smart. By the time the Cardinals hit post season, he was clearly done.

    Reply
    • DonOsbourne

      3 years ago

      The way he was used last year was perfect. I don’t believe their is a way to manage him that will keep him healthy. So use him while he’s available and don’t make any long term plans that count on him being healthy.

      Reply
  21. Bounty Hunters IA

    3 years ago

    Surprise, another pitcher injury from that trash franchise. Those young pitchers in that system always seem to get hurt. Overuse? Poor training system? Ignorant front office? They stress using the 2-seam fastball above all else and the injuries pile up. Hate to see a young man injured so often, hopefully they cut him loose and he can get proper rehab and training from a better organization.

    1
    Reply
    • themed

      3 years ago

      The Cardinals are one of the greatest organizations in baseball today. Never tanking always competitive and very successful especially if you look back on the last 25 years. Get a life son!

      1
      Reply
    • themed

      3 years ago

      Your jealousy is oblivious! No other organization has been better the last 25 years.

      1
      Reply
    • rocknwell

      3 years ago

      I agree with your observation of Cardinals pitchers getting hurt far more often than other teams’ pitchers. It’s a recurring theme. They can’t hold a healthy starter in their lineup.

      It’s unfortunate that 100mph is the new 90mph. It Used to be that if you could throw 90, you were big league material. Now everyone is throwing high octane gas and getting injured as a result. It seems to me that may have something to do with it too.

      Reply
      • themed

        3 years ago

        Nope not really and pitchers get injuries on all teams.

        Reply
      • stan lee the manly

        3 years ago

        How is this comment real when the Mets exist?

        2
        Reply
  22. simondlap

    3 years ago

    More like shoulder surgeReyes.

    1
    Reply
  23. Deadguy

    3 years ago

    Feel bad for Reyes here, shoulder is never good. He was lights out first half of 2021

    Reply
  24. DonOsbourne

    3 years ago

    Is it going to be necessary to forfeit every five games while Hicks “stretches out”? He’s not a starter. He wouldn’t even make a very good reliever right now. I’m not sure why he’s getting such a long leash. If the answer is, “we don’t have any better options right now”, that is inexcusable. The Cards knew Flaherty was hurt all winter. Maybe the money spent on Corey Dickerson should have went toward something else. If would be easy to say hindsight is 20/20 if even casual fans weren’t pointing this out before the season began.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Rangers Outright Billy McKinney

    Astros Recall Kenedy Corona For Major League Debut

    Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

    Diamondbacks Outright Kyle Nelson

    Rockies Option Chase Dollander

    Nationals Name Miguel Cairo Interim Manager

    A.J. Preller Discusses Padres’ Deadline Outlook

    Poll: Should The Marlins Still Trade Sandy Alcantara This Summer?

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    Dodgers To Select Julian Fernández

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version