Cardinals Select Patrick Wisdom’s Contract
The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected third baseman Patrick Wisdom‘s contract from Triple-A Memphis. He’ll take the place of infielder Yairo Munoz on the Cardinals’ 25-man roster. Munoz landed on the 10-day disabled list with a right wrist sprain. To make room for Wisdom on its 40-man roster, St. Louis transferred reliever Luke Gregerson to the 60-day DL.
The 26-year-old Wisdom, whom the Cardinals chose in the first round (No. 52) of the 2012 draft, is finally in position to make his major league debut. Wisdom had been among the Redbirds’ top prospects in the few seasons after they drafted him, but his production and stock fell as he climbed the minor league ranks. To Wisdom’s credit, though, he mashed 31 home runs at Triple-A last season and returned this year to hit a solid .289/.363/.479 (119 wRC+) with 14 HRs in 405 trips to the plate en route to his first MLB promotion.
Trade Rumors: Brach, Braves, Cubs, Wheeler, Harvey, Marlins, Cards
Both the Braves and Cubs are making pushes for Orioles reliever Brad Brach, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. Brach, a pending free agent on a $5.165MM salary, looks like a shoo-in to move prior to Tuesday’s non-waiver deadline. The 32-year-old has endured an uncharacteristically mediocre season, however, with a 4.85 ERA/4.01 FIP and unexciting strikeout and walk rates (8.77 K/9, 4.38 BB/9) over 39 innings.
More rumors with the deadline nearing…
- No fewer than six teams have shown legitimate interest in Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler, though New York doesn’t feel it has to trade him, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. Wheeler, who’s making just $1.9MM this season, still has another year of affordable control remaining. As such, “there’s no urgency for the Mets to move him,” a National League talent evaluator tells Feinsand.
- Meanwhile, ex-Met and current Reds righty Matt Harvey is likely to move by Tuesday, per Feinsand. Harvey has pitched better in Cincinnati than he did in New York this season, but the soon-to-be free agent still hasn’t come close to replicating his halcyon days. As a result, teams aren’t showing much excitement over the 29-year-old, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic relays.
- More from Feinsand, who observes that the Marlins shouldn’t have difficulty finding a taker for pending free-agent reliever Brad Ziegler. In the end, though, it may be a relatively quiet deadline for the Marlins, who are “intent on keeping their crop of controllable players, including their young, talented bullpen pieces,” Feinsand writes. That may rule out trades involving the likes of Kyle Barraclough, Drew Steckenrider and Adam Conley, each of whom has come up in the rumor mill this summer. Unlike those three, Ziegler hasn’t enjoyed a strong season overall (4.06 ERA/4.69 FIP with 6.18 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 51 innings), but the 38-year-old has gotten much better results since June and is continuing to induce ground balls at a ridiculous clip (74.5 percent). Ziegler has approximately $3.5MM coming his way through season’s end. The Cubs, Indians and possibly the Red Sox are among the teams with interest in Ziegler, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.
- There have been rumblings about the Braves trading young left-hander Luiz Gohara for relief help, but that’s not going to happen, according to Rosenthal. Rather, Atlanta’s only going to move Gohara (or pitching prospect Kolby Allard) if it gets controllable starting pitching in return.
- “A few teams” have interest in Cardinals minor league third baseman Patrick Wisdom, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Regardless of whether Wisdom’s dealt this season, Goold regards him as a lock to be out of the Cardinals organization by next year. The Cardinals spent the 52nd overall pick on Wisdom back in 2012, but he still hasn’t made it to the majors. The 26-year-old has shown some promise of late at the Triple-A level, where he homered 31 times and posted a .263 ISO in 506 plate appearances last season. That power came with a so-so .243/.310/.507 slash, which Wisdom has improved on in 2018 (.293/.373/.485 in 370 PAs).
Cardinals Notes: Wainwright, Weaver, Wisdom
The Cardinals announced on Tuesday that they’ve activated right-hander Adam Wainwright from the disabled list. The longtime St. Louis ace has been out since Aug. 17 due to an impingement in his right elbow. Wainwright is reportedly ticketed for a bullpen role upon his return from the disabled list, as the Cards will roll with Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn and young starters Luke Weaver and Jack Flaherty as their starting five through season’s end. The 36-year-old Wainwright has struggled for a consecutive season, following up last year’s 4.62 ERA with a 5.12 mark in just 121 1/3 innings. He’s signed through next season and will earn $19.5MM next year.
A bit more on the Cards…
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch takes a lengthy look at the Cardinals’ use of cut fastballs over the past several years, dating back to Chris Carpenter‘s emergence with an explosive cutter that transformed him into one of baseball’s best pitchers. Goold speaks with Wainwright, pitching coach Derek Lilliquist, manager Mike Matheny and others about the organization’s use of the cutter. Notably, Weaver tells Goold that he’s begun to experiment with the pitch and ultimately believes that a cutter will be an important part of his arsenal, but he’s not yet fully comfortable with the pitch. It’s an interesting look not only at the Cardinals’ usage of the pitch but also at the more general strengths and weaknesses of the pitch as well as its its usage rate throughout the years.
- MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tackles several Cardinals-related topics in her latest Inbox column, beginning with the omission of Triple-A slugger Patrick Wisdom from the team’s group of September call-ups. The 52nd overall pick in the 2012 draft, Wisdom showed significant power in Triple-A this year, hitting .243/.310/.507 with 31 homers and 25 doubles in 506 plate appearances. As Langosch points out, Wisdom will be Rule 5 eligible this offseason if the Cardinals don’t add him to the 40-man roster, thus making him available to 29 other clubs. The Cardinals haven’t had a significant need at the infield corners this year, however, limiting chances for Wisdom to get a look in the Majors. The Cardinals could, however, still include Wisdom among their final wave of September promotions now that the minor league season has come to a close.
[Related: St. Louis Cardinals depth chart and payroll outlook]