Cardinals send Reyes back to the disabled list
Alex Reyes, who made a stunted return to the St. Louis Cardinals rotation after more than a year off for Tommy John surgery, was placed back on the 10-day disabled list Thursday.
The Cardinals are calling the injury a lat strain, remnant of his four-inning outing against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.
Reyes, 23, threw four scoreless innings against the Brewers before being lifted in the fifth after throwing 73 pitches. It was his first big league start since September 2016, but it came after four dominant rehab starts this month in which Reyes allowed no earned runs while striking out 44 in 23 innings.
The explanation afterward was that the team was concerned with his drop in velocity and elected to take a cautious approach with his return to action.
But Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch on Thursday called the injury "significant," and "not minor," adding that Reyes will miss multiple starts.
It's the same injury that has had staff ace Carlos Martinez out the last three weeks. Martinez is scheduled to make his first rehabilitation start in double-A Springfield on Thursday.
St. Louis made a flurry of other moves prior to its series opener against Central Division rival Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium.
A pair of pitchers were recalled from triple-A Memphis, including left-hander Austin Gomber and right-handed reliever Mike Mayers. First baseman Luke Voit also was recalled in place of outfielder Tyler O'Neill, who was optioned back to Memphis.
Gomber, who was named last week as the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week, was recalled to the majors last month, but he did not appear in a game for St. Louis. He is 4-3 with a 3.60 ERA in nine starts for Memphis.
Mayers, who has appeared in 10 games (1-0, 2.63 ERA) for St. Louis this season, was optioned yesterday to make room for Reyes.
The right-handed hitting Voit is batting .237 with one homer and 12 RBI in 34 games for Memphis this season.
This story was originally published May 31, 2018 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Cardinals send Reyes back to the disabled list."