By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | July 26, 2016, 11:37 pm CT
Image: Memphis Redbirds / Twitter
The Cardinals’ top pitching prospect could be just days away from making his MLB debut – under the right circumstances.
Electric right-hander Alex Reyes was pulled just three innings (57 pitches) into his start for AAA Memphis Tuesday night, with Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak telling ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon shortly thereafter that the move was done to provide insurance for the big-league club, who is in need of a Saturday starter.
According to Saxon, as well as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals’ plan is to have lefty Tyler Lyons start that contest, however the club wants to have another option in place in the event that Lyons is needed in relief over the next few days.
After a doubleheader last week, the club intended on starting Lyons on Sunday against the Dodgers. But after he was used for multiple innings in the team’s 16-inning game on Friday, that start instead went to rookie Mike Mayers, who struggled mightily in his big-league debut. With the same situation necessitating a spot starter for this Saturday, the Cardinals are once again creating a contingency plan, this time in the form of their top prospect.
Reyes, 21, surrendered two runs in his three innings of work Tuesday night while striking out seven batters. Since returning from a 50-game marijuana suspension, Reyes has experienced his fair share of struggles (5.02 ERA over 52 innings headed into Tuesday), but has improved his efficiency of late and is striking out an average of 12.5 batters per nine innings.
If things go as planned for the redbirds, Tyler Lyons will make his 21st MLB start on Saturday. But if they don’t (and they haven’t in recent days), we could see the big-league debut of Baseball America’s midseason No. 2 prospect.
More from STL Baseball Today:
Cardinals place struggling Rosenthal on DL with shoulder inflammation, recall Kiekhefer
Cooney to undergo season-ending surgery; Cards patient with Pena and Walden
Carpenter nearing rehab assignment, could be activated by August 2
