The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Tuesday they have purchased right-handed pitcher Alex Reyes from the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.
He is taking up the spot left by starting pitcher Michael Wacha, who went on the 15-day disabled list due to shoulder inflammation.
Reyes has made 14 appearances this season in Triple-A, where he went 2-3 with a 4.96 ERA, via MiLB.com.
Despite those numbers, the 21-year-old was still ranked as the Cardinals’ No. 1 prospect and the No. 9 player in the entire minor leagues by MLB Pipeline after going undrafted out of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 2012.
MLB Pipeline broke down what the 6’3″ Reyes can bring to the Cardinals rotation:
The big right-hander has serious swing-and-miss stuff, with a fastball that touches the mid-90s consistently and can hit triple digits to complement a devastating power curveball. Unlike some young pitchers, Reyes is willing to throw his changeup and understands the value of having it to make his two plus offerings better. Though it’s behind the other two, it should be Major League average in time.
However, he has run into some off-field issues, as he was hit with a 50-day suspension in November 2015 due to a second failed test for recreational drugs, which forced him to sit until May 22.
To Reyes, that time off didn’t affect him when he spoke with Joe Paisley of the Gazette: “I don’t believe it has slowed my progress at all. I am doing my best to learn everything I can. There are a lot of hitters with major league experience so this is a real step up from Double-A. I have gone deeper and deeper into games. I feel good about my progress but know I have more to learn.”
The Cardinals will be hoping that Reyes can live up to the hype, but it will be from out of the bullpen, according to David Wilhelm of the Belleville News-Democrat.
It would be somewhat of a surprising move if that were to happen. The Cardinals’ starting five of Wacha, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake, Jaime Garcia and Carlos Martinez had remained relatively untouched all season. Each pitcher had started over 20 games, with just one other pitcher, Mike Mayers, starting a single game. So there hasn’t been a regular No. 6 starter at all this year.
Entering Tuesday night 11 games behind the Chicago Cubs, the National League Central crown looks lost, but the Cardinals’ playoff hopes aren’t. The NL wild-card race is still wide-open, as they are tied for the final spot with the Miami Marlins, who are four games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
If Reyes is able to bring some plus stuff to the Cardinals out of the bullpen, they could gain some momentum the deeper they get into August.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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