The Cardinals are finalizing a trade in their division with the Pirates for left-handed Jose Quintana and reliever Chris Stratton for Johan Oviedo and Malcom Nunez in return.
Jeff Passan on Twitter: “The St. Louis Cardinals are finalizing a deal to acquire left-hander Jose Quintana from the Pittsburgh Pirates, sources tell ESPN. / Twitter”
The St. Louis Cardinals are finalizing a deal to acquire left-hander Jose Quintana from the Pittsburgh Pirates, sources tell ESPN.
Quintana, 33, is a veteran of 11 Major League seasons, appearing with the White Sox (2012-17), Cubs (2017-20), Angels (2021), Giants (2021) and Pirates (2022).
The 6-1, 220-pound Colombia native owns a career mark of 86-85, 3.81 ERA in 303 games (277 starts) since debuting in 2012.
Quintana is 3-5 with a 3.50 ERA in his 20 starts for the Pirates this season, and ranks among N.L. pitching leaders in groundball pct. (45.6), WHIP (1.27) and fewest HR/9 IP (0.61). His 103.0 innings pitched currently rank 10th among N.L. lefties.
Quintana’s 2016 season led to an American League All-Star selection and 10th place finish in A.L. Cy Young voting after going 13-12 with a 3.20 ERA for the White Sox.
He is using his changeup more and fastball less than usual. His changeup has a 66.7% groundball rate and 25.4% whiff rate.
Minus the bad start in Colorado where he gave up 6 runs, his ERA would be 2.97.
Essentially replacing Matz, who might not return this season.
Kevin Wheeler on Twitter: “Good return for the Pirates. Oviedo has great stuff but command still a question. Nunez can hit but he’s blocked everywhere you look at 1B-3B in STL.Not a deal I’d lose sleep over. https://t.co/GnJdwnEihs / Twitter”
Good return for the Pirates. Oviedo has great stuff but command still a question. Nunez can hit but he’s blocked everywhere you look at 1B-3B in STL.Not a deal I’d lose sleep over. https://t.co/GnJdwnEihs
Stratton, 31, has appeared in 40 games for the Pirates this season, going 5-4 in his 40.2 innings or work with two saves. The 6-2, 200-pound Mississippi native has pitched in seven seasons with San Francisco (2016-18), Los Angeles Angels (2019) and Pirates (2020-22).
Chris Stratton went 7-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 68 appearances last season, striking out more than a batter per inning with 86 in 79 1/3 frames. He has had a tougher time this summer, going 5-4 with a 5.09 ERA in 40 games.
Stratton has a career mark of 30-23 with a 4.61 ERA and 11 saves in 218 games (42 starts).
Mick Lite served for 12 years in the military and is now an entrepreneur and photographer. Has worked as the official scorer and social media manager for the River City Rascals, Statistician for the Missouri Monsters and St. Louis Attack arena football teams, and as the Team Photographer and social media consultant for the St. Charles Chill, SLU Hockey, St. Louis Slam, and Gateway Grizzlies.
