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Cardinals Designate Brandon Dickson For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve designated right-hander Brandon Dickson for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for lefty Andrew Miller, who has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.

It was a brief big league return for Dickson, who was selected to the Cardinals’ roster last week and made his first Major League appearance since 2012. The Cardinals are the only Major League organization Dickson has ever known, but he was away from the club for nearly a decade, as he spent the 2013-20 seasons pitching for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He also won a Silver Medal pitching for Team USA in the Olympics earlier this summer.

Dickson, 36, pitched a total of two innings with the Cards in his return effort and has only 16 2/3 Major League innings to his name. He has a solid 3.72 ERA in parts of four career seasons in Triple-A and was a rock-solid arm in Japan, pitching to a combined 3.32 earned run average in just shy of 900 innings with the Buffaloes, for whom he started 94 games and also made 121 relief appearances. The Cardinals can now either place Dickson on outright waivers or release him within the next few days.

Injury Notes: Rodon, Blue Jays, Slater, Gsellman, Cardinals

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The White Sox are skipping Carlos Rodon’s next turn in the rotation due to shoulder soreness, and manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including NBC Chicago’s Maddie Lee) that the team is hopeful Rodon can pitch during the upcoming September 10-12 series with the Red Sox.  That said, “when he doesn’t feel right, it’s impossible to push it,” La Russa said, noting that in the wake of Rodon’s recent injured-list stint due to shoulder fatigue, “that’s what’s concerning, that all this should add up to where right now he would be in peak form.”

Rodon missed a little over two weeks on the IL and has pitched well in two starts since returning, posting a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings.  However, the Sox were easing Rodon back into action, limiting him to 144 total pitches over the two outings.  La Russa said Jimmy Lambert would likely be called up to take Rodon’s spot in what has become an increasingly injury-riddled pitching staff — Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn are also on the 10-day injured list.

The latest on other injury situations around baseball…

  • Cavan Biggio and Ross Stripling are slated to begin rehab assignments at the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes (Twitter link).  Stripling was placed on the 10-day IL on August 11 with a left oblique strain and could be closer than Biggio to a return, as Stripling might be back when the Jays begin a series against the Orioles on Friday.  Biggio was already on a rehab assignment for a back problem when he suffered an elbow injury two weeks ago, thus setting back his progress.
  • The Giants placed outfielder Austin Slater on the seven-day concussion IL prior to tonight’s game.  Left-hander Sammy Long was also sent down to Triple-A, while righty Camilo Doval and outfielder Steven Duggar were recalled in corresponding moves.  Slater suffered his concussion while crashing into the outfield wall in Saturday’s game in an attempt to catch a Trea Turner home run.  Now in his fifth season with San Francisco, Slater is hitting .227/.313/.395 with 10 home runs over 288 plate appearances while seeing time at all three outfield positions.
  • Robert Gsellman began a rehab assignment at the Mets’ low-A affiliate today, Newsday’s Tim Healey tweets.  Gsellman has been sidelined since June 21 due to a torn lat muscle, and though he’ll need multiple rehab outings due to the long layoff, he is on pace to return to the Mets bullpen before the season is out.
  • Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told The Athletic’s Katie Woo and other reporters that Jack Flaherty will take the “huge step” of beginning to play catch within the next day or two.  Flaherty’s season seemed to be in jeopardy when he was placed on the IL on August 25 due to a shoulder strain, though there is some optimism that the right-hander may be able to return as either a reliever or as a piggyback starter.  In other Cardinals pitching news, Shildt said that Dakota Hudson will throw at least three more rehab starts as the righty continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery.  The timing will be somewhat tight, but there is some hope that Hudson can return to a big league mound this season, which would mark a tremendous recovery considering that Hudson underwent his surgery in late September 2020.

Cardinals Notes: Wainwright, Flaherty, Fernandez

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The Cardinals just keep playing the Cardinal Way. They haven’t been as good as the Brewers, as dramatic as the Cubs, or as divisive as the Reds, but after trouncing Milwaukee last night, the Cardinals are just 1.5 games out of the second wild card spot. It was a familiar pair leading the way as Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina synced up as the starting battery for the 300th time. They are now the fourth most-prolific duo of all-time, and if they make 25 more starts together, they’ll be at the top of the all-time list.

Unsurprisingly, the Cardinals are planning a one-year extension offer for their longtime ace, whenever he’s ready, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Molina is already locked in for 2022 — his final season before retirement. There are not sufficient superlatives to quantify Wainwright’s standing in baseball, but even isolating his contributions this year, he’s one of the most reliable starters in the game: 27 starts, 176 innings, 2.91 ERA, 3.6 fWAR. The 40-year-old amazingly ranks third in the Majors in innings pitched, behind only Zack Wheeler and Walker Buehler.

In terms of the Cardinals’ other ace, Jack Flaherty could return this season in a bullpen/piggyback role, notes Goold. Just a few weeks ago it seemed that the prudent call would be to shut Flaherty down for the year, but with a wild card spot very much in play, Flaherty could still make an impact. An oblique injury put Flaherty on the 60-day injured list earlier, but after a brief return, he went back on the shelf with a shoulder strain. His return could be a huge boon to the Cardinals in September if he’s able to come back firing on all cylinders.

Junior Fernandez, however, has been shut down for the year with a Grade 2 right lat strain, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter). The injury will not require surgery, and Fernandez should have no problem getting ready for 2022. The 24-year-old has made 18 appearances out of the pen, tossed 20 2/3 innings, and logged a 5.66 ERA/5.14 FIP.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Cardinals To Select Brandon Dickson

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The Cardinals are planning to select reliever Brandon Dickson to the big league roster, manager Mike Shildt tells reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Active rosters will expand from 26 to 28 tomorrow, but St. Louis will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Dickson’s official promotion.

It’s the culmination of one of the most remarkable journeys in recent memory. Dickson was a starting pitcher early in his career, and he reached the majors with St. Louis in 2011. He made eight big league appearances between the next two seasons, allowing ten runs in 14 2/3 innings. After the 2012 campaign, the Cardinals released Dickson so he could pursue an opportunity with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

Dickson would spend the next eight seasons in NPB. After beginning his time with the Buffaloes as a starter, the right-hander was eventually transitioned into the closer’s role. Between 2019-20, Dickson pitched to a 3.15 ERA and returned to the U.S. this winter. He signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals in mid-June and earned a spot on the U.S. national team’s Olympic roster.

St. Louis assigned Dickson to Triple-A Memphis, where he’s made eleven appearances. He’s struggled in that hitter-friendly environment, serving up thirteen runs (eleven earned) over 10 1/3 frames. Nevertheless, the 36-year-old has sufficiently impressed St. Louis brass with his current form to earn his first big league look in nearly a decade.

Cardinals Place Andrew Miller On 10-Day Injured List

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The Cardinals have placed Andrew Miller on the 10-day injured list because of a left foot blister, per the team. This will be the second time Miller misses time because of a blister on his foot. He missed the entire month of May because of a similar injury. When healthy, he has a 4.94 ERA/4.54 FIP over 31 innings.

Kodi Whitley has been recalled from Triple-A to take Miller’s roster spot. Whitley has made 12 appearances with the big league club this year, giving up seven earned runs on seven hits and seven walks while striking out eight over 10 1/3 innings.

Additionally, Dakota Hudson will head to Palm Beach for a rehab assignment in Single-A, and Mark Saxon suggests Hudson could pitch out of the Cardinals bullpen soon. Hudson has been out for the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Cardinals would love to have a healthy Hudson in their rotation next season, but this year they will focus on working his arm back into game shape. Hudson’s one full season resulted in 174 2/3 innings of 3.35 ERA baseball back in 2019.

MLBTR Poll: What Should The Cardinals Do With Alex Reyes?

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The Cardinals rotation has featured a series of guest stars and few regulars this season, with 12 different pitchers taking a turn and only 40-year-old Adam Wainwright logging enough innings to qualify. As a group, they’re 13th in the Majors in terms of starters’ innings, and 12th league-wide by measure of ERA (4.02 ERA). By measure of FIP, however, their 4.46 FIP ranks 20th in the game, and if we look ahead to 2022, there’s more than enough uncertainty to make nervous thinkers in Redbird Nation fret.

The five guys currently taking hill turns for manager Mike Shildt have an average age of 36.5, so it’s not a sprightly group. Except for Miles Mikolas, they’re all heading towards free agency at year’s end, too. In fact, of those 12 players who have started a game in 2021, six will be free agents, and John Gant has already been dealt to Minnesota. All of which is to say, the Cardinals have their work cut out for them before Opening Day 2022.

The cupboard isn’t barren, however. For starters, there will be the annual Wainwright retirement question. But with Yadier Molina coming back for one final season, isn’t it almost too perfect for Waino to do anything but follow suit?

Jack Flaherty raises the ceiling of the group, and they’ve made clear that priority one is getting their ace ready for next season, even if that means shutting it down the rest of this year. Dakota Hudson will be an interesting wildcard as he returns from Tommy John. Mikolas is also trying to get healthy, having made just three starts this season. The Cards are on the hook to pay him $17MM in each of the next two seasons, so if the 33-year-old can get healthy, he should have a rotation spot.

Not to mention, any of Jake Woodford, Johan Oviedo, T.J. Zeuch, Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson, or Angel Rondon could be given a look. There are definitely arms floating around in the organization that could ramp up to earn rotation minutes.

But there’s another familiar name that’s going to be given a chance to win a rotation spot: Alex Reyes.

Reyes turns 27-years-old tomorrow, and the former top prospect is in the midst of an establishing campaign. In what’s really been his first full season in the bigs, Reyes has a 2.50 ERA/3.90 FIP over 57 2/3 innings. His usage has certainly been consistent: of his 55 appearances, 50 of them have finished the game, a mark that leads the Majors. Simply put, he’s gone from a high-ceiling rotation question mark to an All-Star closer.

But next season, Reyes will follow Carlos Martinez in the Cardinal tradition of yo-yo-ing organizational expectations from starter to closer and back again. Let’s be clear, for this season, Reyes is the Cardinals closer and that’s the end of it. But next year is a different story, said Shildt on MLB Network Radio. Reyes will be given the opportunity to compete for a rotation spot in 2022.

Reyes has maintained a starter’s arsenal in the bullpen, throwing his fastball, slider, and sinker with almost equal usage rates. He’s been even more diverse against lefties, mixing in an occasional curveball or change-up as needed. His heater has averaged 96.5 mph, which is right around what he was averaging when he first came up as a starter. It might be, then, that he’d lose a tick or two if spread out to a starter’s workload.

The concern relates to his injury history and whether or not the Cards should risk losing another valuable bullpen arm by risking a move to the rotation. There’s more upside in the rotation, of course, but there’s something to be said for letting Reyes stay where he’s been successful. After all, if there’s a desire to get him more time on the mound, the Cards could ramp up his usage with multi-inning outings instead of making a full-scale switch to the rotation.

However many innings Reyes finishes with this season will be his most in a single year since the 2016 campaign. He threw between 100 and 110 innings from 2014 to 2016, which is pretty typical for a young arm on the rise. Whether one healthy season is enough to make Reyes ready for that kind of workload again is unclear.

As a starter, of course, the hope would be that he’d surpass even those totals. That said, it’s looking like only Wainwright and Kwang Hyun Kim will accumulate more than 100 innings from the Cards’ rotation this season, so there’s space to make an impact even without posting an 150-inning season.

Even tempering expectations, the Cards could expect 40-50 more innings from Reyes if he can stay healthy in the rotation. Considering his injury history, however, it’s tempting to take the money on the table now and settle in with Reyes as the closer of the next few years.

Of course, Cardinal closers haven’t been any more immune to arm injuries than their starters have, so there’s an argument to be made that whichever course they take with Reyes, there’s risk. If that’s the case, why not pursue the upside of a rotation slot?

From the beginning of the year, the Cardinals have maintained that this season would be an opportunity to inch Reyes’ workload closer to that of a starter and look ahead next season. He’s been much closer to a traditional reliever than the multi-inning firearm we might have expected, but he’s still likely to finish with something close to 70 innings.

The last consideration is timeline. Even though this will be Reyes’ first full season in the Majors, he has just two years of arbitration remaining, so it might be now or never to see if Reyes can be a starter before he hits the open market. Two years as a starter might make Reyes too pricey for the Cards, but it might also give them enough certainty to lock him up at the right rate, knowing he could be a starter moving forward.

Wainwright believes Reyes can make the jump, per Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who provides this quote from Reyes about Wainwright: “He always looks at me and tells me, ‘Hey man, you’re a starter. You know I was there, and I was able to do it. I believe you can. Just those words of encouragement, they make me feel good. And also, they give me the thought. Someone like Adam Wainwright, who has had such a long career here and has been pitching for so long, if he thinks like that of me?”

Let’s give the St. Louis brass some help and point them in the right direction.

(poll link for app users)

Where Should Alex Reyes Pitch In 2022?
Rotation 56.63% (3,068 votes)
Bullpen 43.37% (2,350 votes)
Total Votes: 5,418

Central Notes: Royals, Cardinals, Tigers

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The Royals are placing Brad Keller on the 10-day injured list with a right lat strain, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com (via Twitter). Josh Staumont has returned from the COVID-related injured list to take his roster spot. Keller has reliably taken his rotation turn all season long for Kansas City, totaling 133 2/3 innings across 26 starts (though he was removed from his last start). The quality of those turns hasn’t perhaps been what Keller or the Royals would hope, however, as he owns a 5.39 ERA/4.72 FIP and -0.2 rWAR. Staumont, for his part, spent just one day on the injured list.

Let’s take a spin around the Midwest and see what shakes loose…

  • Carlos Martinez is probably done for the year, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter). Wade LeBlanc is also questionable to return after feeling some elbow pain in his latest bullpen. If Martinez’s season is truly over, it will have been a disappointing one for the one-time Cardinal ace. Martinez owns a 6.23 ERA over 82 1/3 innings. A 4.76 FIP suggests it might not have quite been the disaster season that those baseline numbers suggest, however.
  • While we’re here, we might as well check in with Jack Flaherty, who is also questionable to return this season. The Cardinals are putting him through a series of assessments now. What matters most is making sure he’s healthy for 2022, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Same story for Ryan Helsley, who will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and look ahead to next season.
  • The Tigers released Renato Nunez, per Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group (via Twitter). Manager A.J. Hinch suggested that there weren’t enough at-bats to go around in Triple-A for Spencer Torkelson, Aderlin Rodriguez, and Nunez. The Tigers outrighted Nunez a few days ago, and he will now be free to sign anywhere.

Molina: 2022 “Will Be My Final Season”

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If there was any doubt after yesterday’s one-year contract extension, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina confirmed in a press conference today that he plans to retire after the 2022 season. “Yes, yes it will be my final season,” Molina plainly stated (Twitter link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

That was the expectation the moment the deal was finalized, as president of baseball operations John Mozeliak even called the 2022 campaign Molina’s final season in the team’s press release announcing the extension. Still, it’s notable to hear the player himself publicly confirm as much.

Molina, 39, is well past his peak production but is still delivering offense that falls roughly in line with that of a league-average catcher. He’s batting .259/.304/.375 with eight homers and 16 doubles so far in 2021, walking at a 5.7 percent clip and still striking out at a 15.7 percent rate that is well south of the league average. His 43 percent caught-stealing rate behind the dish is among the best in the game.

It was strange this past offseason to consider the possibility of Molina playing somewhere other than St. Louis, but he reached the free-agent market for the first time in his illustrious career and unsurprisingly drew interest from several clubs. He’ll avoid any speculation of playing for a new club this time around, cementing himself as a lifelong Cardinal with the extension and today’s announcement.

Notably, as Cardinals fans now turn their attention to Adam Wainwright, Molina touched on the subject of his longtime teammate’s future (Twitter link via Zachary Silver of MLB.com). Molina noted that Wainwright lobbied heavily for him to return to St. Louis last offseason. “Now, it’s my turn,” Molina said in reference to Wainwright, adding that he’d “love to finish my career with him.”

Wainwright is also playing the 2021 season on a one-year contract, and he’s said in the past that he’ll need to discuss the matter with his family before determining whether he’ll continue his own career into the 2022 campaign. Through 162 2/3 innings, Wainwright has a 3.10 ERA, three complete games and a shutout. He’ll turn 40 next Monday.

Cardinals Place Jack Flaherty On Injured List

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10:38am: The Cardinals have formally placed Flaherty on the 10-day injured list and recalled right-handed reliever Junior Fernandez from Triple-A Memphis in a corresponding move.

10:12am: The Cardinals are placing right-hander Jack Flaherty back on the 10-day injured list, manager Mike Shildt announced to reporters during today’s pregame session (Twitter link via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Flaherty, who only just returned from a two-month absence due to a severe oblique strain, has now been diagnosed with a strain in his right shoulder. Shildt indicated that imaging was “mostly negative,” suggesting that there’s no major structural issue in the shoulder.

There’s no timeline on Flaherty’s return just yet, but Shildt indicated that the club can’t firmly rule out the possibility that the talented young right-hander’s season is over. There are just under six weeks remaining on the regular-season calendar, and Flaherty will need some form of down period to allow the strain to heal before he can resume throwing and build back up.

Flaherty made just three starts between IL stints, and his velocity was down noticeably last night before departing the game. He told reporters after the contest that he began feeling “less comfortable as the game went on” and voiced frustration over having another start shortened by a physical ailment (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

With Flaherty now back on the shelf for a yet-to-be-determined period of time, the Cards are again operating at less than full strength in the rotation — just as they have throughout the entire summer. Kwang Hyun Kim recently returned from the injured list but was slated to work out of the bullpen; it’s at least possible that they’ll shift him back into a starting role now that Flaherty is out. Elsewhere in the rotation, the Cards have Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, J.A. Happ and Jon Lester. For now, that group will lead the charge as the Cards attempt to close a 4.5-game deficit in the NL Wild Card standings. The division is effectively out of reach, as Milwaukee has a commanding 13-game advantage over St. Louis (and an 8.5-game lead over second-place Cincinnati).

Flaherty has been excellent when healthy this season, as one would expect. The 25-year-old carries a 3.08 ERA, a 26.1 percent strikeout rate, a 7.7 percent walk rate and a 38.6 percent ground-ball rate through 76 innings thus far.

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