Cards Getting Healthy, Trade Reyes before Deadline

The Cardinals have won just 4 out of 10 since sweeping the Padres after the All-Star Break, but declined to make a ton of noise before Thursday’s trade deadline. Instead, getting some key guys healthy figures to act as a blockbuster deal for Gm John Mozeliak’s ball club. 2005 NL Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter pitched on Wednesday in Atlanta for the first time since opening day of 2007. Carpenter went 4 innings giving up just 1 earned run in a no decision while being monitored on a pitch count. Chris had a few control problems early but by the end of his outing the fastballs stayed low painting the outside corners and the breaking balls had a sharp, 12 to 6 drop in them. One could argue Carpenter’s return is bigger than the Sabathia and Harden deals but if that’s not enough the Cardinals expect to get back Adam Wainwright sooner than later. The return of St. Louis’ top 2 starters could really give the Redbirds a boost in the right direction that they’ll need down the stretch.

Moving from the rotation to the bullpen RP Jason Isringhausen is taking back his role of closer in place of Ryan Franklin who will move back to the set-up role. Expect to see Russ Springer and Kyle McClellan pitch a lot of 7 th innings. On the downside Randy Flores has been sent to Memphis to try to work out some problems with his mechanics. Speaking of Triple-A Memphis, the Cardinals made one big move before the trade deadline in dealing out former World Series Game 1 winner Anthony Reyes to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for pitcher Luis Perdomo and cash considerations. Reyes was a big pitching prospect for St. Louis and had some success in the majors but could not seem to consistently retire big league batters. Reyes has predominately destroyed minor league opposition while struggling to keep the ball down in the bigs going just 10-24 with a 5.38 in his time in St. Louis. In return the Cardinals get a young, hard-throwing arm that can someday help out the Cardinal’s bullpen at the major league level.

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A guy the Redbirds wouldn’t mind having available in the bullpen right now, Josh Kinney, has been throwing batting practice and still has a shot at pitching before the end of this season. In the meantime, the Cardinals will try to make their push with what they have after not making a move to solidify their bullpen shortly after hearing names like Brian Fuentes floating around only to see the deadline pass us by.

By Zack Estes
St. Louis Cardinals Correspondent

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