It’s the day Cardinals fans have been waiting for.
Carlos is back. Yadi is back.
Thankfully, the rotation has been solid in the absence of their Ace thanks to strong starts from Mikolas, Flaherty, and Wacha. Mikolas and Wacha have both put in strong cases for an All-Star invite.
Mikolas: 11 starts, 72.1 IP, 6-1, 2.49 ERA, 0.99 WHIP
Wacha: 12 starts, 71.0 IP, 7-1, 2.41 ERA, 1.10 WHIP
Before his DL stint Carlos had a case of his own. He was easily one of the top pitchers in all of baseball.
Martínez: 8 starts, 50.0 IP, 1.62 ERA, 1.08 WHIP
Martínez did make a rehab start for Springfield where he went 4 innings.
https://twitter.com/sgf_cardinals/status/1002357549092495363?s=21
The Cards were counting on rookie Alex Reyes to contribute to the club, but with another long term DL stint on the horizon, they will need the rotation to continue it’s early success. Martínez should held to stabilize the rotation even further.
Martínez faces the Miami Marlins who have been one of the worst teams in baseball. Considering all of the players they shipped out this past off-season, it makes sense. They come into Tuesday nights matchup 20-39 on the year and are currently last place in the NL East, 15 games back on the Atlanta Braves.
The Cardinals will be battling Jose Urena of Miami, who is 0-7 on the season with a 4.41 ERA. St. Louis comes into the game 32-25 after taking 3 of 4 against Pittsburgh. The NL Central race is still tight with just 6.5 games separating the top 4 teams. The Cards sit in 3rd place but are just 3.5 games behind Milwaukee, and just 0.5 games out of the Wild-Card.
Yadier Molina is also set to return Tuesday and it’s likely that Carson Kelly will be sent back down to AAA Memphis. Kelly also found himself on the DL leaving Fransisco Peña to take on primary catching duties. Peña was solid during that time, helping Wacha to a near No-Hitter Sunday afternoon.
I’m sure Yadi is also excited to be back after his gruesome injury. He is a leader in the clubhouse and ability behind the plate cannot be overstated. The Cardinals have yet to throw out a baserunner attempting to steal, so Yadi returning should hopefully remedy that soon. A few weeks ago I noticed the trend, and it hasn’t gotten better.
Aaron Mullins on Twitter
Fun fact – the #STLCards are the only team in MLB who hasn’t thrown out a baserunner attempting to steal… 0-11
Yadi was 0-5 during his rehab in Springfield, but it’s hitting .272 so far this season with 6 home runs. He is the most offensively gifted catcher currently on the roster and is very crucial to a struggling Cardinal lineup.
The Cardinals have an opportunity to make up some games against a poor opponent. Carlos and Yadi returning could be just the thing to do it.
I’ll be there to see Tsunami hopefully throw a gem!
Thanks for reading!
Aaron M.
