Finally cleared for action, St. Louis Cardinals now must find role for Alex Reyes
For many 25-year-olds, a mandate to stay in the house and play video games is perhaps the easiest part of the quarantined world in which we now find ourselves living.
For Cardinals righthander Alex Reyes, 14 days spent in isolation with his PlayStation represented the most recent frustrating speed bump on a road back to regular appearances in the majors which has now stretched for nearly four years.
Reyes confirmed for the first time publicly that he tested positive for COVID-19 upon intake testing at Busch Stadium in early July. He remained asymptomatic throughout his quarantine, and received word from MLB on Friday evening that he had recorded the two consecutive negative tests necessary to rejoin his team, which he did for Saturday night’s workout.
“It’s tough,” Reyes said. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but (I) also have to be thankful. This virus has affected many lives, and I mean, thankfully I wasn’t hit with any symptoms or nobody who was close to me got infected. So for me it’s a huge positive now that this is behind me, and just looking forward to the future.”
Pitchers Génesis Cabrera and Ricardo Sánchez were also approved to join the club after their own positive tests, and Sánchez was dispatched to the team’s alternate training site in Springfield, Missouri.
Giovanny Gallegos was approved to join the team on Sunday after unspecified delays on Saturday. He declined to discuss the reason for his absence but said he was able to throw in Mexico while awaiting permission to travel and come to camp.
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said the team is still developing a plan for Gallegos, who threw a “light bullpen” on Sunday, but that pitching coach Mike Maddux confirmed that Gallegos looked fit.
Reyes was long considered the team’s best prospect, and was for a time perhaps the top pitching prospect in baseball. He allowed only eight earned runs in 46 innings pitched as a 21-year-old in 2016, and then missed the following season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
While recovering from that elbow injury, he tore the labrum in his right shoulder in 2018 and managed only four big league innings.
In 2019, after having missed almost two full seasons, he struggled with control and then broke his non-pitching hand after punching a wall in frustration while pitching for Triple-A Memphis. From there, he was unable to rebuild strength in his throwing arm, and another season was lost.
The talent is undeniable, and the disappointment of seeing it lie just out of reach is inescapable.
“That’s a hard gig, man,” Shildt said of the mandatory COVID quarantine period which Reyes and Cabrera had to endure. “That’s a hard deal to be separated from people for a long period of time.”
“They’re such good guys and they’re so likable and they put a lot of time, energy, effort into being here. They’ve got a strong desire to be here and they work hard to be here. So that was a tough setback for them, I know. To get them out here, to get on the field and enjoy themselves and to be a little more freed up to do things, it was nice to be able to have them here.”
In contrast to Gallegos, neither Reyes nor Cabrera was able to participate in much meaningful baseball activity during their period of isolation. Reyes said he was able to do things like push-ups and sit-ups — “body weight workouts” — but otherwise had PlayStation games Crash Bandicoot, Rainbow Six, and MLB The Show to keep him company.
Shildt said the team hadn’t yet developed a firm plan for getting Reyes back into game readiness, given that he just arrived at camp and hasn’t thrown off a mound since July 1. He acknowledged that he “wouldn’t expect anything” from Reyes in terms of availability on Friday’s Opening Day, but that the team was eager to see where he might fit in its broader pitching plans.
“We’ll build him up to accommodate, make sure he’s healthy, he’s recovering well,” Shildt said. “And then we’ll determine what his role looks like and if he’s throwing well and things are looking good, which is very possible, we can get him here and get him going based on the role we could need here.”
One role which has yet to be determined is that of closer. Ryan Helsley has looked like the favorite of those who have been able to compete throughout summer camp, and Gallegos was likely the leader of the derby at the close of spring training. Though Gallegos is ahead of Cabrera and Reyes in terms of a timeline for returning to the majors, Shildt said Friday that he wouldn’t be treated as an incumbent for the job.
Reyes’s stuff intrigues, and his high velocity fastball and swooping curve could be a tantalizing combination for chase-happy hitters in high-pressure ninth inning situations. If he’s able to stay between the lines and utilize his talent, it remains prominent enough to allow Reyes to become a true lockdown reliever.
Would that role be appealing to Reyes?
“The roster is appealing to me,” he deadpanned.
After four years, it’s hard to argue with that.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 12:21 PM.
