May 23rd, 2013 at 12:20 AM
By Brandon HunterThe injuries keep piling up for the St. Louis Cardinals. Starting pitcher Jaime Garcia was recently placed on the DL with a torn shoulder labrum and will receive season ending surgery later this week from Dr. George Paletta, the Cardinals' team physician. Garcia finishes the season with a 5-2 record.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals were looking to replace Garcia in the starting rotation with lefty Tyler Lyons but weren't sure who they would send down. This problem was resolved on Tuesday when Fernando Salas came to the training staff complaining of shoulder soreness which has now been diagnosed as shoulder inflammation. Salas was correspondingly placed on the 15-day DL on Wednesday, the day of Lyons's scheduled start. Salas's injury could explain his recent struggles where he was admittedly confused as to why his pitches lacked their usual sharp finish. This was almost a fortunate injury for the Cardinals as Salas had no remaining minor league options available and had been struggling the most of any member of the bullpen.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 22nd, 2013 at 1:06 PM
By Kyerstin HillAfter experiencing some injuries in the pitching department, the St. Louis Cardinals will start Tyler Lyons, a sleeper prospect from Oklahoma State University, in tonight’s game against the San Diego Padres. Lyons will replace the injured Jaime Garcia, who suffered from a shoulder injury during the 2012 season.
Lyons, the left-handed Triple A pitcher, was selected by the Birds in the ninth round of the 2010 draft. Minor league baseball specialist and USA Today reporter, John Sickels, labeled Lyons as a “sleeper” in the 2013 Baseball Prospect Book because of his performance at Oklahoma and in recent years at the High A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels. Beginning in 2011, Lyons pitched as a starter and reliever for High-A Palm Beach in the Florida State League where he posted a 4.50 ERA in 94 innings and a FIP at 3.68. Moving up to Double-A Springfield in 2012, Lyons threw a 3.92 ERA in 92 innings with a FIP of 3.68 resulting in his transition to Triple-A Memphis where he has averaged a 4.28 ERA and 3.19 FIP in 88 innings. So far in 2013, Lyons has posted an ERA of 4.47 and a FIP of 3.31. In addition to his average 90-93 mph fastball, Lyons can throw a decent change up as well as a curveball, which has been his specialty since his college career. His stats combined with his above average pitching abilities make him an appealing candidate to join the starting rotation in place of Garcia.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 22nd, 2013 at 1:06 PM
By Brandon Hunter 
The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Wednesday May 22nd that starting pitcher Jaime Garcia will have season ending surgery. The surgery is to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. This is the same issue that Garcia presented with last season but sought to repair through rehab rather than surgery as suggested by team doctors and officials.
In his place, lefty starter Tyler Lyons has been called up from Triple-A Memphis to start. Speculation is that Lyons is a short term fill in with Jake Westbrook on his way back. However, there has been some dissenting opinion about how close Westbrook is to returning among the media as Westbrook has yet to take any major steps forward in his rehab.
The Cardinals have not yet announced who will be sent down to make room for Lyons, but it would seem that the most likely candidates are Carlos Martinez and Seth Maness. Both would benefit from getting more innings as starters in Memphis. Meanwhile, the Cardinals had to remove a player from the 40-man roster to add Lyons. They chose erratic and oft-injured reliever Eduardo Sanchez who once closed briefly for the Cardinals in 2011. When a player is removed from the 40-man roster he must pass through waivers. Sanchez was claimed off waivers by the rival Chicago Cubs. Sanchez is no longer property of the Cardinals and has no further ties to the organization.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 20th, 2013 at 7:29 AM
By Brandon Hunter
Recently it has been announced that St. Louis Cardinals long time starter Chris Carpenter would be attempting to return this season to the Cardinals' bullpen. However, during his bullpen sessions it has been noted by observers that he takes periodic breaks in between throwing. This is typical of how a starting pitcher would condition in rehab and not so much what a reliever would do. Therefore, it is possible the Cardinals may be looking to shuffle Carpenter into the rotation.
This development is likely due to a couple of items that have become apparent. The first is the obvious fact that the Cardinals now have two starting pitchers on the DL in Jake Westbrook and Jaime Garcia. With questionable health in the starting rotation, it is clear the Cardinals may need more experience in an already young starting rotation which currently includes two rookies, John Gast and Shelby Miller. Lance Lynn is only in his second season as a starter and had to be removed for a time. Joe Kelly could be filling in as well, but he has yet to pitch a full Major League season himself.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 18th, 2013 at 9:00 AM
By Brandon Hunter
St. Louis Cardinals' treasure David Freese finally broke out of his early season slump on Friday with his first homerun of the season. This wasn't just a homerun, but a grand slam in the first inning with two outs to put the Cardinals up 5-0 early over the Milwaukee Brewers. It looked as if it would be a blowout for the Cardinals, but this was not the case.
Aramis Ramirez, the ultimate Cardinal killer, had six RBIs off of Cardinals' starter Jaime Garcia. These came in the form of two three-run home runs. Otherwise Garcia was solid. It was the anniversary of Ramirez's first homer against the Cardinals back in 2001 when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sadly for the Brewers, this would be all they would get as far as runs scored.
The Cardinals never gave up the lead thanks to RBIs by Matt Holliday and Jon Jay. They won by the score of 7-6 with outstanding performances by Seth Maness, Trevor Rosenthal, and Edward Mujica who shut the door. Mujica has been perfect thus far in save opportunities this season without blowing a save in 12 attempts.
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