Cardinals Lefty Cecil Replaced by Sherriff, Reyes to 60-Day

photo: Brett Cecil (Gregory Fisher/USA TODAY Sports)

St. Louis Cardinals press release

The St. Louis Cardinals today (Saturday) placed left-handed pitcher Brett Cecil on the 10-day disabled list with a left shoulder strain.  Left-handed pitcher Ryan Sherriff has been recalled from Memphis (AAA) and right-handed pitcher Alex Reyes has been transferred from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list.

Brett Cecil

Cecil, 31, pitched Thursday afternoon against the Mets throwing one-third of an inning and allowing one hit on 10 pitches.  The veteran pitcher had appeared in 404 career games as he enters his 10th season of Major League Baseball.  He pitched the 2017 season with the Cardinals with eight previous seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Sherriff, 27, made 13 relief appearances with the Cardinals in 2017 posting a 2-1 record with a 3.14 ERA over 14.1 innings with 15 strikeouts.  The southpaw appeared in seven Spring Training games before being optioned to Memphis on March 18.

Ryan Sherriff

Reyes, 23, missed the entire 2017 season with Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow.  Reyes was moved from the 10-day to the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster for free agent signee Greg Holland.  Holland has been optioned to Palm Beach (A) of the Florida State League.

Alex Reyes

Sherriff will wear uniform No. 65.

Brian Walton’s take

Cecil had told Cardinals staff that he had been going through a dead arm period in spring training, but also noted it happened every year. He then said he was not right following Thursday’s appearance. An exam on Friday led to the DL decision even before final MRI results are in. The team does not expect the injury to be serious.

Interestingly, Sherriff is the only left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster in the minors and one of just two relievers (the other is John Brebbia). Sherriff is in uniform in New York and ready to pitch if called upon Saturday.

Clearly the signing of Holland forced the Cards’ hand on a 40-man roster move needed to make room. Rather than lose another pitcher forever, as they had to do this week with Josh Lucas, they gave up a month of Reyes’ services, a move they had been adamant until now they would not do.

Cardinals officials were equally adamant on Saturday that Reyes had not suffered a physical setback. The 23-year old began pitching multiple innings in back field simulated games three weeks ago.

The Reyes news is a bit disappointing in the short term, as it will delay his expected return to St. Louis by about a month. Then again, given his target of about 100 innings this season, it means the right-hander may end up in St. Louis’ rotation sooner than anticipated. On the other hand, more of the 100 innings could be eaten up in Extended Spring Training, where Reyes is expected to spend the entire month of April before going out on a rehab stint. The overall plan to have the top prospect ready for a full workload in 2018 remains in place.

Of course, in the big picture, the Cardinals bullpen should benefit from the arrival of Holland sooner than Reyes’ original projected return of May 1. At this point, the new closer’s schedule is unclear, though initial game appearances with Palm Beach would seem most likely. The minor league season begins on Thursday, April 5.

Greg Holland

Holland’s signing was made official by the Cardinals on Saturday morning. The day before, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted the new closer’s contract details.

Note this includes a bonus for Holland winning the League Division Series Most Valuable Player Award, an honor which does not exist. However, if it is magically created within the next six months, they will be ready!

For more

To track the status of the Cardinals’ 40-man roster as well as all players in the system by position and level, check out the Roster Matrix, always free and updated here at The Cardinal Nation. Also included is every player transaction across the full organization all year long.

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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.

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