Cardinals top prospect Alex Reyes needs Tommy John surgery
After worries about an injury on Tuesday, the St. Louis Cardinals and their No. 1 pitching prospect Alex Reyes have gotten the news they (and many fans) had been fearing.
Alex Reyes, after review, will have a Tommy John surgery, #cardinals affirm. Paletta will do surgery here in Jupiter.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 15, 2017
Reyes has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm, which is why he’s having the surgery. Most pitchers who have Tommy John surgery are out for at least a year, so he’ll miss the entire 2017 season. We won’t be seeing Reyes again until spring training 2018, if not later.
[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball | 2017 Player Rankings]
Pitchers and catchers reported on Tuesday for the Cardinals, and the morning had barely started when news broke that Reyes had skipped his throwing session and the team’s training staff hadn’t cleared him. An MRI was scheduled for Wednesday, and Tommy John surgery was on everyone’s minds.
There is significant concern inside the Cardinals' organization that Alex Reyes, their star pitching prospect, needs Tommy John surgery.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 14, 2017
Unfortunately, those concerns turned out to be true.
Reyes isn’t just the Cardinals’ No. 1 pitching prospect. He’s their No. 1 overall prospect, and at the top of several prospect lists. He spent a little time with the Cards in 2016 and showed everyone the kind of superstar he could be. In 46 innings, he racked up a 1.57 ERA with 52 strikeouts. He spent some time in relief, but started five games, including a brilliant outing against the San Francisco Giants on Sept. 18 in which he pitched seven shutout innings, giving up just four hits and two walks.
This development is terrible news for Reyes and for the Cardinals, who were hoping that Reyes could be part of their 2017 season. The Cards have enough starting pitchers to fill out their rotation, but they’ll be sorely missing Reyes’ potential. Without Reyes as an option, the burden will be on back end starters Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn (who is himself coming back from Tommy John surgery) to be consistent, though they most likely won’t be able to replicate what Reyes could have brought to the rotation.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – –
Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
