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Cards Set Roles For Kwang Hyun Kim, Carlos Martinez

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The Cardinals have settled upon some pitching roles for the outset of the season, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was among those to cover on Twitter. Newly inked southpaw Kwang-Hyun Kim is headed to a high-leverage relief role, while right-hander Carlos Martinez will step back into the rotation.

This represented one of those good problems in need of resolution. Lacking any health issues to drive a decision, the Cards had to take their pick between two rather appealing choices to round out the starting staff.

Kim inked a two-year, $8MM deal under which the club also posted a $1.6MM fee to his former KBO outfit. Kim was sharp in Spring Training, throwing eight scoreless frames with 11 strikeouts and just one walk. While he made his mark as a starter in Korea, Kim will have to earn his way back into the rotation in St. Louis. Alternatively, he could etch out a prominent gig at the back of the pen, perhaps as a closer.

There’s a model to follow in Martinez himself, who was a high-quality MLB starter for years before health issues intervened. He ended up being shifted back into the pen, where he rung up saves in half of his 48 appearances in 2019. Now, the talented 28-year-old will get a chance to reestablish himself as a starter. It makes sense that the club elected to give him another crack at the rotation. Beyond his established ceiling in that role, Martinez is owed $11.5MM in 2021 with two high-priced club options to follow.

Cards Notes: Cabrera, Sanchez, Reyes

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  • The Cardinals provided updates on some of their COVID-positive players (MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold were among those to report the news.)  Left-handers Genesis Cabrera and Ricardo Sanchez were both cleared to participate in training, and Cabrera was at Busch Stadium today to play catch while Sanchez will join the Cards’ taxi squad at their minor league training site.  Alex Reyes, meanwhile, confirmed that his delayed arrival to training camp was indeed due to the coronavirus, though Reyes was asymptomatic.  Once one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Reyes has been limited to only seven MLB innings over the last three seasons due to various injuries, so the Cardinals weren’t likely to rush him to the Opening Day roster even had he been healthy.  It isn’t out of the question that Reyes will emerge at some point in the 2020 season as a hard-throwing relief option.

Giovanny Gallegos Reporting To Cardinals Camp

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Key righty Giovanny Gallegos is on his way back to action, the team informed reporters including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Gallegos has been missing from Summer Camp to this point for unstated reasons.

This is big news for the Redbirds, who came to rely upon Gallegos quite a bit in 2019. Largely unheralded before last season, Gallegos turned in 74 innings of 2.31 ERA ball on the year, carrying a sparkling combination of 93 strikeouts and 16 walks while permitting only 44 base hits.

That performance has already helped change perceptions of the 2018 swap that sent Luke Voit to the Yankees. If he can keep things going, Gallegos might convince the St. Louis faithful to change their tune entirely on a deal that has generated no shortage of consternation.

It remains to be seen how rapidly Gallegos will ramp up. Supposing he has been in good health and had ample training opportunity, he should be able to move throw his progression rather swiftly.

Even in the best-case scenario, it’d be optimistic to think Gallegos will be ready for Opening Day. And he’s presumably now out of the closer conversation to open the year. But the timing should make Gallegos available for most of the 2020 campaign.

Jordan Hicks Opts Out Of 2020 Season

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JULY 14: A setback in Hicks’ Tommy John rehab played a part in his decision to opt out, manager Mike Shildt revealed Tuesday (via Saxon). Hicks is dealing with inflammation and would not have been able to pitch until at least September had he decided to play this year.

JULY 13: Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks has opted out of the 2020 season, citing preexisting health concerns, the Cardinals announced on Monday. Hicks, who has Type 1 diabetes, is also recovering from Tommy John surgery and was expected to open the season on the injured list.

“We respect and understand Jordan’s decision to opt out this season,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in a statement announcing the news. “We wish him well as he continues his recovery from elbow surgery, and we look forward to seeing Jordan back on the mound for the 2021 season.”

Hicks becomes the 13th Major League player to opt out of the 2020 season, joining a growing list that figures to have more additions between now and Opening Day. While most have been veteran players with considerable career earnings already under their belt, Hicks and White Sox hurler Michael Kopech have bucked that trend, joining Nationals righty Joe Ross as younger players on the opt-out list.

Notably, The Athletic’s Mark Saxon tweets that Type 1 diabetes is listed by MLB as a preexisting condition that would allow a player to opt out and receive service time and salary. Hicks isn’t yet arbitration-eligible, so he’ll take home a prorated salary worth only a bit more than the league minimum, but the service time he accrues this season will push him to three years — making him arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. He won’t have much of a platform to earn a considerable raise, but that will bring him one step closer to free agency in the 2023-24 offseason, so it’s certainly of importance to both player and team.

Hicks is baseball’s hardest thrower, averaging a ridiculous 101.6 mph on his fastball prior to injury. After a solid rookie season in 2018, he looked to be elevating his game to another level in 2019, when he pitched to a 3.14 ERA with 9.7 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.63 HR/9 and a massive 67.2 percent ground-ball rate in 28 2/3 innings. Hicks went 14-for-15 in save opportunities last year before his injury, firmly seizing the ninth-inning job in manager Mike Shildt’s bullpen.

From a pure baseball perspective, it’s a tough loss for the Cardinals, who have also seen setup man John Brebbia undergo Tommy John surgery while top setup man Giovanny Gallegos has yet to report to Summer Camp. There’s been talk of again using Carlos Martinez as a late-inning option, though the right-hander’s preference has been to start. Mozeliak has also previously mentioned right-hander Ryan Helsley as a potential ninth-inning option in absence of Hicks.

Latest On Cardinals, COVID-19

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TODAY: Cabrera, Sanchez, and Montero have all tested positive for a second time, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).  As such, the trio will continue to remain in quarantine protocol, though all three are asymptomatic.

JULY 5: The Cardinals revealed today that minor leaguer Elehuris Montero has also tested positive for the coronavirus. Montero is the team’s third positive test, following Cabrera and Sanchez yesterday. The Cardinals are still awaiting the results of more tests. Montero, 21, was added to St. Louis’s 60-man player pool at the start of the month. One of the most promising prospects in the organization, he would surely benefit from reps in a big-league environment, especially after a disappointing season at Double-A last year.

JULY 4: Left-handers Genesis Cabrera and Ricardo Sanchez have both tested positive for COVID-19, the Cardinals announced this afternoon.  As detailed by MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters, Cabrera and Sanchez are each currently in quarantine, and both pitchers are asymptomatic.

Cabrera and Sanchez both tested positive during the club’s initial round of intake testing as players arrived in St. Louis for training camp.  They will now remain isolated for a two-week period, and will then have to be symptom-free and deliver negatives on two separate COVID-19 tests before returning to training.

Cabrera was looking to win a job in the Cards’ bullpen in the wake of his 2019 rookie season.  The southpaw’s first taste of the big leagues resulted in a 4.87 ERA, 1.73 K/BB rate, and 8.4 K/9 in 20 1/3 innings, with Cabrera starting his first two games and then working in relief during his 11 other appearances.  Acquired from the Rays in July 2018 as part of the return for Tommy Pham, Cabrera has mostly worked as a starter in the minor leagues, though he has yet to look effective even at the Triple-A level.  Cabrera’s live arm (96.3mph fastball in 2019) could make him a reliever over the long term, and while St. Louis has a number of other starters ahead of him on the depth chart, Cabrera could get the odd spot start or opener assignment depending on how the Cardinals manage their rotation in the short season.

Sanchez just joined the Cards in February after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners.  The 23-year-old has yet to reach Triple-A ball, topping out with a 4.33 ERA over 203 2/3 innings at Double-A (with the Seattle and Atlanta affiliates) in 2018-19.

Dexter Fowler Dealing With Back Tightness

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  • Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler sat out yesterday’s intrasquad game with back tightness, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com). He won’t take part in today’s Summer Camp work, either. Shildt categorized Fowler’s absence as merely precautionary, calling him day-to-day. Also sidelined today is utilityman Brad Miller, who’s dealing with heel soreness, per Rogers. As with Fowler, the Cards appear simply to be exercising an abundance of caution with Miller.

Cardinals Add Three To Summer Camp Roster

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The Cardinals have added right-hander Seth Elledge and lefties Zack Thompson and Rob Kaminsky to their Summer Camp roster at Busch Stadium, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers tweets. Doing so means each has been added to the team’s 60-man player pool. The Cardinals’ initial pool contained 44 players, and they’ve since added third baseman Elehuris Montero to camp as well (although he was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, as were southpaws Genesis Cabrera and Ricardo Sanchez).

Thompson, 22, is both the most highly regarded of today’s trio of additions and also the furthest from the Majors. The University of Kentucky product was the Cardinals’ first-round pick (No. 19 overall) in 2019 and ranks as their No. 5 prospect at FanGraphs and MLB.com. Thompson, however, only pitched two innings of Rookie ball and 13 1/3 frames with the Cards’ Class-A Advanced club in 2019. His inclusion is likely more for developmental purposes than due to his status a a legitimate option in 2020. He was seen as something of an injury risk in the ’19 draft but draws praise for a plus curve and above-average changeup. He was with the team during the initial Spring Training and tossed three perfect innings with three strikeouts.

Both Elledge and Kaminsky are more likely to be called upon should a need arise in 2020. Elledge, 24, is a pure bullpen prospect who came to the Cards in the trade that sent Sam Tuivailala to the Mariners. He posted a lackluster 4.26 ERA in 67 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year, but his overall body of work as a pro is sharp — as was his work in the 2019 Arizona Fall League. Elledge has averaged nearly a dozen punchouts per nine innings pitched but also saw his walk rate jump in Triple-A last year (19 free passes in 34 1/3 innings). With John Brebbia out until 2021 (Tommy John surgery) and Jordan Hicks set to open the year on the IL while rehabbing his own Tommy John procedure, Elledge gives the Cards some right-handed relief depth.

Kaminsky, 25, was a first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2013 but was traded to the Indians for Brandon Moss two years later. Things didn’t pan out for Kaminsky there, and after spending parts of five seasons in Cleveland’s minor league ranks, he became a minor league free agent this winter, ultimately landing with the Cards on a minors deal.

A 2017 forearm injury cost Kaminsky the entire year and may have helped prompt a shift to the bullpen. He was quite good as a reliever in Double-A both in 2018 and 2019, but he struggled in the supercharged offensive environment in Triple-A last year (5.11 ERA, 31-to-14 K/BB ratio in 24 2/3 frames). Like Elledge, he’s a non-roster player but could conceivably see some MLB action in 2020 if the Cardinals need to tap into their depth.

Cardinals Health Notes: Mikolas, Goldschmidt

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Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas received a platelet-rich plasma injection back in February, but he’s continued to make progress over the past few months. He’s apparently nearing full recovery, as he tells reporters, including Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that he anticipates being in the club’s season-opening rotation.

Mikolas will throw approximately 40 pitches to live hitters in an intrasquad game early next week, Hummel adds. That seemingly represents the final step in his build-up toward readiness for the regular season.

Also ready for the season opener is Paul Goldschmidt. Goldy was nagged a bit by a sore right elbow in the first iteration of Spring Training, Hummel notes. Nearly four months later, Goldschmidt tells Hummel his elbow is back to 100 percent. The 32-year-old’s first season in St. Louis was a bit of a down year relative to Goldschmidt’s lofty standards. A fully healthy season from the star first baseman would go a long way towards the Cards’ hopes of repeating as NL Central champions.

2020 will mark the first year of a five-year, $130MM contract extension Goldschmidt signed at the outset of the 2019 season. Whereas Goldy might not have opened this season at full health had it begun in March as planned, it seems he has generally benefited from the three-month stoppage, allowing his elbow to get back to where it should be.

NL Notes: Camp Delays, Dodgers, Cardinals, Gallegos, Health Updates, Senzel, Hamels

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Expect delayed arrivals to camp to become somewhat of a recurring story early in training camp as players attempt to clear the many hurdles to return to play. The Dodgers, for instance, will be missing a few players at the start of camp, though manager Dave Roberts wasn’t able to name specific players, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Likewise, the Cardinals will be missing reliever Giovanny Gallegos, who is delayed in his return from Mexico, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The Cardinals have not given a specific reason for his delay, per The Athletic’s Mark Saxon. Rather than speculate on reasons for the holdup, let’s check in on some health updates from around the league…

  • Nick Senzel’s had a banged-up rookie season, appearing in 104 games with a .256/.315/.427 slash – but he’s ready to go for his sophomore campaign. His first season ended early when a torn labrum required Senzel to get shoulder surgery. That injury is fully recovered now, but only just now, as Senzel reported having throwing pain as recently as a month ago, per Bobby Nightengale of The Enquirer. Senzel may not have a steady defensive home when play begins, but he figures to be an everyday presence in the Reds’ lineup regardless, especially with the DH now in play.
  • Cole Hamels was never going to get a full Spring Training, not once a shoulder injury took him out of commission for a few months. The 36-year-old knows that the four-week leadup to the newly-rebooted 2020 season isn’t exactly the same, not at his age, but he plans to be ready to contribute, per Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Said Hamels: “It’s not as if I’m going to go out there expecting to pitch seven to nine innings. There’s going to be a gradual buildup process, and there’s going to be guys who will be able to piggyback on you, like in a high school or a college season. All that really matters is putting up zeroes. If you can put up two or put up five zeroes, that’s really helping the team, more so than (other pitchers) having to pick up and try to eat a lot of innings.” 

Cardinals Add Elehuris Montero To 60-Man Pool

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The Cardinals have added third base prospect Elehuris Montero to their 60-man player pool for Summer Camp, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak tells reporters (Twitter link via Mark Saxon of The Athletic). He’ll head to their camp at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, bringing their current player total to 45.

Montero, 21, was one of the Cardinals’ very best prospects and landed on Baseball America’s Top 100 list heading into the 2019 season. He’d torn through Class-A in 2018, raking at a .322/.381/.529 batting line (157 wRC+) at just 19 years old. His stock, however, took a tumble in 2019 when he looked overmatched against Double-A opposition, hitting just .188/.235/.317 in 59 games. Montero was nearly four years younger than the average competition he was facing in the Texas League, though, so the downturn in production isn’t as concerning as it might’ve been for an older player.

The lost minor league season won’t do any favors to young players like Montero — those in need of a rebound after a poor season. But by placing him in the 60-man player pool, the Cards will at least be able to give him some developmental reps along with big leaguers and other well-regarded prospects. Montero was added to the team’s 40-man roster this past offseason, though it still seems unlikely that he’d be called to the Majors anytime soon after such pronounced struggles in Double-A a year ago.

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