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Alex Reyes

Cardinals Likely To Use Alex Reyes In Bullpen Role

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It wasn’t that long ago that Alex Reyes was arguably baseball’s best pitching prospect — a power right-hander heralded as the Cardinals’ ace of the future, Injuries, however, have decimated Reyes’ past few years. Tommy John surgery plus lat and pectoral strains have limited him to a combined 195 2/3 innings in the past four seasons (despite working almost exclusively as a starter in that time). Still just 25 years of age, Reyes tells Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he hopes to continue as a starter now that he’s healthy, but president of baseball operations John Mozeliak suggests that’s not likely — at least this season.

“It’s going to be tough for him to break our rotation given the talent and the names we have in it,” Mozeliak tells Hummel. “We are going to bring him to camp and stretch him out the best we can. But I think the likelihood of how he most likely contributes to the Cardinals in 2020 is in the bullpen.”

The Cardinals’ rotation consists of Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson and Adam Wainwright. Fifth-starter candidates include Carlos Martinez (who was forced into a relief role by injuries in 2019) and winter pickup Kwang-Hyun Kim, who could work in either the rotation or the ’pen. Right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon and lefties Genesis Cabrera and Austin Gomber are depth options on the 40-man roster. One would imagine that a healthy Martinez is the best option, but he did excel in a relief capacity in 2019 (3.17 ERA, 2.86 FIP, 9.9 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.37 HR/9, 56.5 percent ground-ball rate).

Turning back to Reyes, it’s indeed difficult to see how the club could expect him to function as a starter in the short term. He’s thrown just 84 1/3 innings in the past three seasons, including just 40 1/3 frames in 2019. Dropping him back into a starter’s workload would necessitate an enormous increase in his total innings and pitches thrown — and that’s particularly problematic for a pitcher who has never even tossed 120 frames in a single season; Reyes’ career-high innings total is 115 1/3 all the way back in 2015.

That’s not to say that the talented righty doesn’t have any sort of future in the rotation, but between the organization’s pitching depth and Reyes’ injury history, it’s easy to see why the club has its sights set on a relief role in 2020. Looking down the line, Wainwright is only playing on a one-year deal, while Kim is being paid $4MM in both 2020 and 2021. A strong relief effort for Reyes this coming season could well lead to a look as a starter in 2021, but he’ll first need to prove his arm can hold up. The Cardinals control Reyes through the 2023 season.

Cardinals Notes: Ozuna, Ravelo, Wieters, CarMar, Reyes

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Some tidbits from the Cardinals as the team holds its Winter Warm-Up fan event this weekend…

  • Marcell Ozuna continues to linger as a possibility to rejoin the team, though Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears from a source that the Cardinals will “have to up their offer for him to return.”  Ozuna recently hinted that the Cards and Rangers were his two top suitors, and reports from earlier this month suggested that the Reds were also still in the mix.  That said, there have also been rumblings that the Rangers’ top outfield (and first base) target might be Nicholas Castellanos rather than Ozuna, and it remains to be seen if Cincinnati will further add to its rather crowded outfield after signing Shogo Akiyama.  The Cardinals themselves have quite a few outfield options to juggle, of course, and between that depth and potentially the lack of a strong bidding war for Ozuna’s services, the club may not see a reason yet to offer him a larger contract.
  • Reports from last week indicated that Rangel Ravelo was receiving interest from a KBO League team, though Cardinals president John Mozeliak told Goold and other media members that a trade was apparently very close to fruition.  Trading Ravelo to South Korea would have lessened the outfield surplus, though St. Louis instead addressed that issue by dealing Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to the Rays as part of a swap that involved four players and two draft picks.  As Mozeliak put it, “that’s when I took the toothpaste and tried to jam it back in the tube” in terms of walking back the Ravelo trade with the unnamed KBO team.  Since Ravelo is still somewhat buried on the Cardinals’ long list of outfield candidates, one wonders if those trade talks could be revisited (assuming the Korean team is still interested) should the Cards make another addition, such as perhaps an Ozuna signing.
  • Mozeliak told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers) that he is “hopeful” that Matt Wieters will return as the St. Louis backup catcher.  As of last week, the Athletics were also known to have interest in Wieters’ services, though Mozeliak said that “I’m hoping we’ll get Wieters done, I really am.  Still need to dot i’s and cross the t’s on that.”  Wieters hit .214/.268/.435 with 11 home runs over 183 plate appearances for the Cards last season, with positive grades as a pitch-blocker from Baseball Prospectus even while ranking near the bottom of the league in framing.  The fact that Mozeliak directly mentioned Wieters perhaps hints at a deal being close, Rogers noted, as the executive rarely names specific targets.
  • “It feels great to be a starter again,” Carlos Martinez told reporters (including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel) at the Winter Warm-Up event.  Martinez has pitched well as the Cardinals’ closer in each of the last two seasons, and the right-hander said he prefers to start, though he likes both starting and relieving — “Whatever situation they put me in, I’m going to help the team.”  Shoulder problems necessitated Martinez’s shift to the bullpen, though he is now eager to get back to the rotation after claiming “100 percent” health following a minor shoulder surgery and a PRP injection in October.  The St. Louis rotation already features Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, and newly-signed Kwang-Hyun Kim, though needless to say, Martinez won’t have any trouble regaining a slot if he returns to his 2015-17 form.
  • Alex Reyes is another Cardinals pitcher that sees himself eventually as a starter, though for now, the young righty is just happy to finally be healthy.  “Mentally, I think what helped the most is just not being around rehab, rehab, rehab. It’s been three years of strictly rehab for me…I thought it was huge for me to be able to be with my family,” Reyes told Rogers and other reporters.  Once considered one of the sport’s top prospects, Reyes has been limited to just seven MLB innings over the last three seasons due to Tommy John surgery, lat muscle surgery, a broken finger on his non-throwing hand, and a pec injury.  If Reyes can finally stay on the field, he will likely be pitching out of the Cards’ bullpen as the team gets him re-acclimated to a regular pitching schedule.

Alex Reyes Headed For Additional Testing, May Not Pitch Again In 2019

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It appears that Cardinals righty Alex Reyes is once again threatened by the potential of a season-ending injury. Mark Saxon of The Athletic tweets that Reyes is heading to St. Louis for another round of imaging and examinations on his ailing right pectoral muscle, adding that it “appears as if his 2019 season is over.”

Reyes, 25 later this month, has been limited to just 40 1/3 innings in 2019 — only three of which came at the MLB level. He hasn’t pitched in a game since a June 23 outing and hasn’t appeared in the Majors since April 5. At the time of the injury, it was announced as a pectoral strain that was only expected to cost Reyes two to three starts, but manager Mike Shildt said Wednesday that Reyes’ arm didn’t respond well to a bullpen session this week (Twitter link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

If Reyes is indeed shut down for the season, it’ll mark a third straight season for Reyes that has been virtually wiped out by injury. He didn’t pitch at all in 2017 due to Tommy John surgery, was limited to 26 innings last year thanks largely to surgery to repair a tendon in his lat muscle and has now only totaled 40 1/3 frames in 2019. Reyes is among the most highly touted pitching prospects in recent memory and was at one point hailed as a potential ace in the making, but he’s never even reached a total of 115 innings in a season between the Majors and minors combined.

The latest setback for Reyes comes at a poor time, as St. Louis has dropped four consecutive games after choosing not to add to its rotation at the trade deadline. Michael Wacha is currently holding the fifth spot in the rotation, but he’s lost that job twice already in 2019 and pitched poorly in his return to a starting role in his last outing.

Among internal alternatives, lefty Genesis Cabrera has struggled in the upper minors and in a pair of MLB starts. Right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon made a handful of solid outings earlier this season but didn’t complete four innings in any of his three most recent starts. Lefty Austin Gomber, also on the 40-man roster, has been sidelined since mid-May. Adding depth in August is harder than ever before, and the Cardinals’ record is better than that of fellow postseason hopefuls in Milwaukee, New York, Arizona, San Francisco and Cincinnati, which lessens the likelihood of a palatable option making it to St. Louis on outright waivers.

Injury Notes: Astros, A. Reyes, Cain, Dodgers, Lamet

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Astros right-hander Corbin Martin is dealing with “a potentially serious elbow injury,” Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes. Martin suffered the injury during a start for Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday. MLB.com’s 48th-ranked prospect, Martin made his major league debut earlier this season when the Astros were looking for a fifth starter, though he wasn’t able to lay claim to the spot. The 23-year-old made five starts and posted a 5.59 ERA with 8.84 K/9 and 5.59 BB/9 in 19 1/3 innings before the Astros optioned him back to the minors.

  • Cardinals righty Alex Reyes has been diagnosed with a strained pectoral muscle that will cost him to two to three starts, according to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak (via Mark Saxon of The Athletic). It’s the latest in a growing line of injuries for the touted Reyes, who, largely because of health issues, hasn’t been able to stay in the majors since his 2016 debut. The 24-year-old has spent almost all of this season at Triple-A Memphis, where he has recorded a 7.39 ERA with 12.21 K/9 and 7.71 BB/9 in 28 innings (10 appearances, seven starts).
  • Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain underwent cryptotherapy on his right thumb Tuesday, but it should only keep him out a couple days, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com relays. Cain has undergone the procedure on a few occasions during his career, per McCalvy, who notes the 33-year-old has been battling pain for weeks. That likely helps explain Cain’s surprising decline in production. One of the majors’ most valuable players from 2017-18, Cain’s off to a .253/.314/.357 start in 331 plate appearances this year.
  • The Dodgers are hopeful shortstop Corey Seager will return immediately after next month’s All-Star break, manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday (via Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times and Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Seager would end up missing about a month in that scenario, having gone to the IL with a left hamstring strain June 13. Meanwhile, fellow Dodgers infielder David Freese’s injured hamstring is “not responding like we’d hoped,” Roberts revealed. Nevertheless, the Dodgers are optimistic Freese – who just hit the shelf over the weekend – will come back prior to the break.
  • The Padres could soon have “a serious conversation” about whether to add rehabbing righty Dinelson Lamet to their rotation, per manager Andy Green (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). The team’s “getting more and more excited about that concept” of plugging in Lamet, who’s mending from April 2018 Tommy John surgery and may only be one more rehab start from heading back to San Diego. The 26-year-old’s first major league start of the season could come as early as July 4, Cassavell reports. Lamet showed promise in his only big league season, 2017, during which he logged a 4.57 ERA with 10.94 K/9 and 4.25 BB/9 in 114 1/3 innings.

Jordan Hicks, Alex Reyes Undergoing Medical Evaluations

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Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks and oft-injured prospect Alex Reyes are both undergoing tests today to determine the severity of a pair of potential injuries, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hicks is having an MRI after being slowed by triceps tightness in recent days and could potentially land on the injured list. Reyes, meanwhile, exited yesterday’s Triple-A outing due to right pectoral discomfort and is being reevaluated today.

Were Hicks to require a stint on the injured list, the Cardinals could turn to either Andrew Miller or John Gant for ninth-inning work in his absence. Miller struggled terribly through his first 13 games this year but has rebounded with a 2.70 ERA and, more importantly, a 25-to-4 K/BB ratio over his past 16 2/3 innings. That sterling ratio comes after the lefty issued eight walks and hit three batters in his first 9 1/3 innings of action as a Cardinal. Gant, meanwhile, boasts a 2.40 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.65 HR/9 and a 47.1 percent grounder rate in 41 1/3 innings of relief.

That’s not to say that the loss of Hicks wouldn’t sting, of course. The 22-year-old has improved in every meaningful category in 2019. At present, he has a 3.14 ERA with 9.7 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a superlative 67.2 percent ground-ball rate. He’s upped his swinging-strike rate and opponents’ chase rates from 9.4 percent and 26.1 percent to 11.9 percent and 29.5 percent, respectively. Even Hicks’ otherworldly heater has taken a step forward in 2019; after averaging a blazing 100.5 mph on the pitch in 2018, he’s upped his average fastball velocity to 101.2 mph this year.

The news on Reyes, 24, is more concerning not necessarily because of the specific nature of his injury but because the vaunted right-hander has an already lengthy injury history that has led to concerns about his ability to remain on the field. Reyes has thrown  just 64 1/3 innings from 2017-19 combined and has never reached 120 innings in a single season. He’s previously undergone Tommy John surgery as well as surgery to repair a tendon in his lat muscle last season.

The Cardinals’ pitching staff has received a boost in recent weeks. Carlos Martinez returned to bolster the bullpen and has turned in 15 innings of 3.00 ERA ball. Michael Wacha tossed two quality starts (albeit against one clunker) upon rejoining the rotation following a bullpen sojourn. Miller’s resurgence, too, has been a vital development. The club looks better equipped to handle absences for Hicks and/or Reyes with that trio looking mostly sharp, but a significant absence for either pitcher could of course impact the manner in which the Cards operate in the weeks leading up to next month’s trade deadline.

St. Louis currently looks like a buyer, as the Cards are in a tie for an NL Wild Card spot and just two games behind the division-leading Cubs. That stance isn’t likely to change, but their area of focus and level of urgency to make a deal will undoubtedly be impacted by health throughout the roster.

Latest On Cardinals’ Alex Reyes

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Little to nothing has gone according to plan for St. Louis’ rotation in 2019. Onetime top starter Carlos Martinez has settled for a relief role after shoulder weakness slowed him during the spring. Miles Mikolas, unexpectedly the Cardinals’ No. 1 starter a year ago, has taken sizable steps backward. So has Michael Wacha, whom the Cardinals demoted to their bullpen last month. Meanwhile, ex-ace Adam Wainwright and young starters Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson have produced decent bottom-line results, but no one’s confusing them with front-line options at this point.

At 30-29 and within 2 1/2 games of a playoff spot, St. Louis could reel in a rotation upgrade(s) from outside the organization via trade and/or free agency in the next couple months. As things stand, though, righty Alex Reyes might represent the Cardinals’ best chance to make a near-term improvement in their starting five. The 24-year-old has barely pitched in the majors this season, having totaled three innings in relief during the first week before the Cardinals optioned him to Triple-A Memphis.  Three weeks later, Reyes fractured his left pinky while punching a wall after a minor league start. That ill-advised decision cost Reyes a few weeks, but he’s back to pitching at the minors’ highest level and could be within one start of a return to the majors, manager Mike Shildt said Tuesday (via Mark Saxon of The Athletic).

“Alex is clearly a guy who, when right, we’d like to have available if the need is there,” Shildt stated. “He’s definitely in the mix.”

It’s easy to see why the Cardinals are holding out hope for a Reyes breakthrough. Reyes was one of the game’s elite farmhands not long ago, and he justified his high rankings on top 100 prospect lists with a 1.57 ERA/2.67 FIP during a 46-inning debut in 2016. But Reyes underwent Tommy John surgery prior to 2017 and then required a season-ending procedure on his right lat last June.

Reyes’ injuries have helped prevent him from building on his initial showing in the majors, though he may get his first real opportunity to do so this year. Fellow young flamethrower Genesis Cabrera, whom the Cardinals promoted May 27 in an effort to boost their rotation, gave the team his second subpar start in as many tries Tuesday. Cabrera’s scheduled to make his next start Sunday in Chicago, but the club could go in another direction by then. Even if Cabrera does pitch against the Cubs, he may need to turn in a much-improved performance to get another start.

Quick Hits: Cards, Martinez, Reyes, Royals, Goodwin, Yanks, Ellsbury

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Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez, whose injured shoulder has kept him out of action this year, is “expected” to return at some point next month, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “I feel so much better. Right now I’m 85 percent, 90 percent,” Martinez declared. “In two weeks … I think I’m going to be great. When I come back to the major leagues, I’m going to be 100 percent.” The electrifying 27-year-old has flashed front-line starter potential during his career, but thanks in part to his own wishes, he’ll work out of the Cardinals’ bullpen when he comes back. However, Martinez’s goal is to rejoin the Redbirds’ rotation after the All-Star break, Hummel relays. Meanwhile, though there’s no official timetable for fellow banged-up Cardinals righty Mike Mayers’ return, he’s aiming for July. The reliever went to the injured list April 16 with a strained lat.

More from St. Louis and a couple other big league cities…

  • Martinez and Mayers certainly aren’t dealing with embarrassing injuries, but the same isn’t true for teammate Alex Reyes. The prized 24-year-old suffered a fractured left pinky after punching a wall following his most recent Triple-A start, general manager Michael Girsch told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch and other reporters Sunday. Reyes will now head to the Cardinals’ facility in Jupiter, Fla., to continue building his arm up, though this injury likely leaves the righty at least a month from returning to St. Louis, per Goold.
  • Outfielder Brian Goodwin was on release waivers a month ago, when the Royals cut him in favor of Lucas Duda. All Goodwin has done since then is slash .333/.430/.556 in 87 plate appearances as a member of the Angels, making him one of the game’s elite hitters in the early going. The Royals could end up ruing their decision to part with Goodwin, but manager Ned Yost and GM Dayton Moore explained to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that they don’t regret the choice. Yost noted that Goodwin has struggled as a pinch hitter, which played a part in the Royals’ decision to release him, and observed that “it just made more sense” to have the lefty-swinging Duda and the righty-batting Frank Schwindel (who’s now in the minors) as pinch-hitting options and Terrance Gore as another bench choice. The Royals also had plenty of other outfield possibilities, notes Worthy, who points out Goodwin didn’t exactly make a case for a roster spot during an unproductive spring with KC.  “There probably wouldn’t have been a lot of at-bats for him,” said Moore, who suggested he’s happy Goodwin found a better opportunity elsewhere.
  • Injuries continue to haunt forgotten but well-compensated Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who last appeared in a game Oct. 17, 2017. Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday (via George A. King III of the New York Post) that Ellsbury is “dealing with different things,” “a number of little things that continue to pop up,” and “certainly” won’t return in the near term. The 35-year-old Ellsbury has battled a litany of health problems over the past couple seasons, including plantar fasciitis in 2019. The Yankees owe Ellsbury $21MM salaries through 2020 and can then cut the cord on him with a $5MM buyout.

Cardinals Notes: Martinez, Mayers, Reyes

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Carlos Martinez “feels great” as he continues to rehab his shoulder, per Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The next steps will be either a more aggressive side session or a trip to the team facility in Jupiter, Florida. The Cardinals have been treading water up until this point with a 10-9 record, but little ground has been lost in a tightly-bunched NL Central. Martinez’s return will be interesting to track, as he is a relative rarity in terms of the breadth of his usage possibilities (and therefore the breadth of his potential impact). The party line was Martinez would return to the rotation where – when healthy – he has pitched like an ace. At the same time, when he returned from injury last season, the Cards sent him to the pen where he saved five games and earned more than three outs in an outing five times. Whether the Cards bring him back as a starter, a closer or in the fireman role, he should be a big piece for a pitching staff whose starters rank 23rd in the majors with a 5.28 ERA. Let’s check in on a couple other Cardinals pitchers looking to make it back to the bigs…

  • Also from Durando, Mike Mayers – placed on the IL on April 16th – is expected to be out for “a couple of months.”  Shoulder surgery is not in the offing, however, as the Cards appear consigned to rest and rehab. There was no mention of a specific grade level on Mayers’ shoulder injury, though it stands to reason based on the recovery timeline that he suffered a Grade 2 lat strain. Mayers, 27, made eight relief appearances for the Cards this season after 50 in 2018. Overall in that span, he pitched to a 4.80 ERA with a 2.85 K/BB rate.
  • Alex Reyes has a new role in Memphis, as the right-hander has been moved into the starting rotation for the Cardinals’ Triple-A club, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. The club’s intention is to get Reyes more game time to work on his changeup and slider, though overall command consistency remains the primary goal. The plan is for Reyes to put in 40-50 pitches in his first Triple-A start, though that number could grow as he strengthens. The team says the move is purely to get Reyes more opportunity to find his stride with those secondary pitched in-game, and while in a vacuum that explanation makes sense, it’s hard to overlook potential context clues such as the ongoing struggles of the St. Louis rotation, or the continued uncertainty around Carlos Martinez’ eventual role. Reyes’s has been in the spotlight since tossing 46 shimmering innings of 1.57 ERA baseball as a 21-year-old back in 2016, though it’s been a wait-and-see game for the Cardinal faithful since then.

NL Notes: Nats, Rosenthal, Rox, Freeland, Brewers, Cards, Reyes

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Nationals reliever Trevor Rosenthal’s hellish early season start continued Sunday when he failed to retire either Met he faced, walking one and hitting another. Rosenthal also threw a pair of wild pitches and totaled just one strike during his seven-pitch outing. Worse, the 28-year-old hasn’t recorded an out against any of the nine batters he has gone against this season, making him the first pitcher since 1995 to achieve that ignominious feat, Jon Heyman of MLB Network notes. Rosenthal, who missed all of 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, expressed confidence in his health Sunday and his chances of eventually escaping this slump, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Meanwhile, asked if the Nationals can continue to put Rosenthal on the mound, manager Dave Martinez said: “We have to come up with something. We have to figure something out for him. We tried to tweak something with his mechanics, but we’ve got to keep working on it.”

Martinez added the Nationals are “going to need Rosey,” who was their most noteworthy bullpen addition of the offseason. Thanks to a successful run with the Cardinals from 2012-17, Rosenthal’s earning a guaranteed $7MM this season with Washington, which took a chance on him in the wake of his injury. His return has gone about as poorly as possible thus far, of course, though Rosenthal’s hardly the lone problem in the Nationals’ bullpen. The unit entered Sunday with a league-worst 10.02 ERA and nearly blew a 12-1 lead before hanging on for a 12-9 win.

More from the NL…

  • Although Rockies owner Dick Monfort seems interested in extending left-hander Kyle Freeland, the two sides haven’t engaged in talks yet, Heyman reports. Colorado just extended righty German Marquez for a guaranteed $43MM – a number Heyman regards as “an obvious floor” for Freeland, who’s in his final pre-arbitration season and has three years of control left thereafter. Freeland, 26 next month, made a major case for long-term security in 2018, in which he amassed 202 1/3 innings of 2.85 ERA pitching and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young race.
  • While the Brewers are reportedly keeping an eye on the majors’ two best free agents, closer Craig Kimbrel and starter Dallas Keuchel, it doesn’t sound as if they’re expecting to sign either hurler. Assistant general manager Matt Arnold told Jim Duquette of SiriusXM on Sunday that the Brewers “do not foresee any additions at this point” from the outside. That may have something to do with the possibility  that the Brewers, who are already running a franchise-record season-opening payroll of $122MM-plus, don’t have the spending room left to sign either player for anything close to what they’re seeking. Kimbrel’s current asking price is unclear, but there’s no doubt it’s lofty, while Ken Rosenthal reported Saturday that Keuchel may be looking for a deal in the $18MM-per-year range.
  • The Cardinals demoted highly touted righty Alex Reyes to the minors Saturday, but they don’t plan on having the 24-year-old come back as a starter this season. Building up Reyes’ workload is “not even close to on our radar,” manager Mike Shildt told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday. Rather, Reyes will typically total two innings and 30 to 40 pitches per Triple-A appearance, Goold explains. The goal is for Reyes to function as a late-game, multi-inning reliever when he heads back to St. Louis, though there’s no timetable for his return to the majors, Goold reports.

Cardinals Option Alex Reyes, Yairo Munoz To Triple-A

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The Cardinals have optioned righty Alex Reyes and utilityman Yairo Munoz to Triple-A Memphis, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Corresponding moves haven’t yet been announced.

Reyes will received “scheduled work” in Memphis, Goold notes, rather than his irregular deployment out of the Cards’ bullpen over the first week of the season.  This usage could be a reason for Reyes’ struggles. as the 24-year-old has allowed five earned runs over his three innings pitched this season for an ugly 15.00 ERA.  Reyes has allowed runs in each of his last three outings, including a rough frame of work on Friday that saw him surrender a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer as well as three walks, leading to three Padres runs.

One of the game’s most heralded pitching prospects, Reyes burst onto the scene with 46 innings of 1.57 ERA ball for the Cardinals in 2016, but has since barely pitched.  Tommy John surgery sidelined him for all of 2017, and Reyes only amassed 27 total innings in the minors and majors in 2018 after tearing a tendon in his right lat.

A more steady workload could be the best move for Reyes as he continues to get his career back on track, and it seems likely that he’ll be back in St. Louis at some point this season after he begins to string together some good results.  Whether that return would be as a reliever or as a starter may depend on the status of the Cardinals’ rotation members, though Reyes could again be seen as a potential multi-inning relief weapon for late in games.

Two pitchers are likely to be added to the 25-man roster, Goold writes.  Since the Cardinals were playing with a five-man bench, Munoz became expendable as the team looked to add an extra arm to the bullpen.  Munoz has five plate appearances over four games for St. Louis, making one start and mostly coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter and late-game defensive sub.  The 24-year-old Munoz was a valuable bench piece for St. Louis last season, hitting .276/.350/.413 over 329 PA in his rookie season while seeing time at six different positions.

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