Cardinals Activate Dominic Leone, Release Ryan Sherriff
The Cardinals have activated reliever Dominic Leone from the 60-day disabled list and placed fellow reliever Mike Mayers on the 10-day DL with right shoulder inflammation, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports. Additionally, the Cardinals have released reliever Ryan Sherriff, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
Leone is finally set to return after missing nearly four months with a nerve issue in his right biceps. Before Leone went on the DL on May 5, the 26-year-old opened the season with 13 innings of 4.15 ERA ball, adding 15 strikeouts against three walks. The Cardinals were counting on Leone to serve as a key member of their bullpen this year after a terrific 2017 with the Blue Jays, who traded him to St. Louis for outfielder Randal Grichuk in January.
Leone hasn’t been available for most of 2018, but Mayers, on the other hand, has seen plenty of action. The hard-throwing 26-year-old ranks third among Cardinals relievers in both innings (45 2/3) and appearances (42). Mayers has been respectable along the way, having logged a 4.14 ERA with 8.28 K/9 and 2.56 BB/9, but a couple of recent blowups have hurt his numbers. In a loss to Colorado on Saturday, he yielded two earned runs on three hits and failed to record an out – perhaps thanks to his shoulder troubles.
The left-handed Sherriff, 28, had been with the Cardinals since they used a 28th-round pick on him in 2011. He worked his way to the majors last year, impressing over 14 1/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA, 9.42 K/9 against 2.51 BB/9, and a 65 percent groundball rate. Sherriff totaled another 5 2/3 big league frames earlier this season, but he struggled before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June. Not only did that procedure end his season, but it’s also likely to keep Sherriff out for a large portion of the 2019 campaign.
Cardinals’ Ryan Sherriff Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
The Cardinals will be without left-handed reliever Ryan Sherriff for the remainder of the 2018 season and for much of the 2019 season after the southpaw underwent Tommy John surgery today. Sherriff himself broke the news in a since-deleted Instagram post, though Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that the team has confirmed the operation took place.
Sherriff, 28, made his big league debut with the Cards last season, tossing 14 1/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA, a 15-to-4 K/BB ratio and a whopping 65 percent ground-ball rate. That impressive showing came on the heels of similar numbers in Triple-A, where he posted a 3.19 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 56.2 percent grounder rate in 53 2/3 innings.
[Related: St. Louis Cardinals depth chart]
He’s only been healthy enough to toss a combined 9 2/3 innings between Triple-A and the Majors this season, however, during which time he’s allowed seven runs on the strength of 14 hits (including a pair of homers). In a best-case scenario, he’d be available as a bullpen option late in the 2019 season.
Tyler Lyons, Brett Cecil and Austin Gomber give the Cardinals a trio of left-handed options for their big league bullpen, though Lyons and Cecil have struggled, while Gomber has just two MLB appearances (including a rough outing tonight). With Sherriff now out of the equation for the duration of the season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Cardinals explore some depth additions in the short term, although left-handed bullpen help seemed like a possible deadline target for the St. Louis front office even before today’s news.
Quick Hits: Farquhar, Machado, Cardinals, Duffy
White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar has been placed on the 10-day disabled list after passing out in the club’s dugout. According to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, the sudden collapse was caused by a brain aneurysm. He was immediately hospitalized following the incident, and is currently in stable but critical condition. We at MLBTR will be keeping Farquhar in our thoughts during what is certainly a scary situation.
More notes from around MLB…
- Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports suggests that the White Sox could be a team to watch in the upcoming Manny Machado sweepstakes this offseason. A rival GM tells Heyman that the Sox could be a “dark horse” to sign the superstar shortstop. Concurrent with this rumor, via Heyman, is the pattern of owner Jerry Reinsdorf being occasionally willing to make a big splash in the free agent market (though I’d like to point out that they’ve never made a splash of anything close to this size).
- A pair of Cardinals relievers are making progress in their returns from injury, which would provide a welcome cavalry to the club’s bullpen. Left-hander Ryan Sherriff is scheduled to throw a live bullpen session on Wednesday at Triple-A Memphis, according to Joe Trezza of MLB.com. He’s currently still wearing a metal shank in his shoe under the fractured toe in order to protect it. Meanwhile, Trezza adds, righty Sam Tuivailala threw two bullpen sessions this week, and will throw a third one tomorrow. The downside of these imminent returns is that the Cardinals will be facing a difficult roster decision when they decide to activate these two relievers.
- Bill Chastain of MLB.com tweets that Rays third baseman Matt Duffy is “cautiously optimistic” that he’ll be able to be activated from the 10-day disabled list when he’s first eligible on April 27th. He did some soft-toss hitting yesterday along with a few throwing drills, and is progressing nicely in an attempt to return quickly from a hamstring injury suffered in Monday’s game.
Cardinals Place Brett Cecil on DL, Recall Ryan Sherriff; Alex Reyes Moved To 60-Day DL
Minutes after the Greg Holland signing became official, the Cardinals placed left-hander Brett Cecil on the 10-day disabled list with a left shoulder strain, and recalled left-hander Ryan Sherriff from Triple-A in a corresponding move. The club also transferred right-hander Alex Reyes from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL in order to make room for Holland.
The news of Cecil’s injury comes as something of a surprise, and is upsetting news to a Cardinals club that’s currently without Luke Gregerson and will need to wait for Holland to work his way back into game shape. The lefty’s 2017 performance was middling, as he pitched to a 3.88 ERA and 3.65 xFIP with just 8.82 K/9 after exceeding 11 K/9 in each of his previous three seasons. Hope for a another strikeout-heavy campaign isn’t off to a good start with news of a shoulder injury about which we don’t yet know the severity.
The 31-year-old Cecil has been a reliable setup man since his first full season as a starter-turned-reliever in 2013. In the past five seasons with the Blue Jays and Cardinals, the southpaw owns a 3.14 ERA with 327 strikeouts in 272 2/3 innings to go with 12 saves and 66 holds. Cecil also sports an impressive 48.2% ground ball rate during that time.
For Reyes, being transferred to the 60-day DL means the Redbirds’ top prospect won’t be eligible to pitch for the team until at least May 28th. It’s a quick change of heart for a team that only recently said that the fireballer, who underwent Tommy John surgery last year, wouldn’t be moved to the 60-day DL. The club doesn’t have much rotation depth beyond Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, Luke Weaver, Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty, particularly following an offseason trade of Sandy Alcantara to the Marlins as part of a package for Marcell Ozuna.
Sherriff, 27, has just 13 major league appearances to his name, all coming in the latter half of 2017. The lefty showed well in a small sample, striking out 15 hitters while allowing just five earned runs. For his MiLB career, Sherriff has proved something of a ground ball phenom, topping 56% in three of his past four seasons. He’s spent his entire career in the Cardinals organization after being selected in the 28th round of the 2011 draft.