By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today
The Cardinals’ trade to bring in Jonathan Broxton from the Milwaukee Brewers left one reliever packing his bags for Memphis another’s status up in the air.
In order to clear room for the veteran on the team’s 25- and 40-man rosters, the Cardinals optioned Miguel Socolovich to AAA Memphis and designated Marcus Hatley for assignment.
Socolovich, signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, has greatly impressed in his time in the majors this season while pitching in some key spots for the redbirds. The 29-year-old righty, who has spent most of the past three months in the big-leagues, holds a 1.54 ERA over 21 relief appearances.
Manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch that the goal is for Socolovich to work on improving command of his fastball while in Memphis.
“Miguel, you see the times he got in trouble, it wasn’t with putting away pitches because he’s got a very good changeup, a very good slider that is completely confident in throwing in any count,” Matheny said. “It’s just getting into bad counts by not making quality pitches with his heater. That’s his goal more so than anything else.”
Hatley, 27, was unscored upon in two appearances during his brief time with the Cardinals.
[Related: Cardinals acquire veteran reliever Jonathan Broxton from Brewers]
Feature image used under Creative Commons from Ron Cogswell. No changes made. Image License.
