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Izzy Shelved; Perez Gets the Call
The Cardinals made another roster move today, placing struggling closer Jason Isringhausen on the 15 day disabled list, and calling up Memphis closer Chris Perez. Here’s the full press release.
The move is no surprise. Isringhausen had already been pulled from his ninth inning duties to try to build confidence in easier spots. Last night’s poor outing was his sixth blown save and fifth loss of the year. Something had to be done. Hopefully he’ll be able to come back fresh after the DL stint.
Meanwhile, Perez joins fellow youngsters Kyle McClellan and Mike Parisi in the Cardinals’ bullpen. In 18 games this season in AAA, Perez is 1-1 with a 2.04 ERA, and has struck out 22 batters in 17.2 innings. View all of his stats here.
I watched Perez pitch a few times this spring here in Florida. The guy throws hard, touching 98 at times. It will be interesting to see how Tony La Russa will use his newest reliever. It took no time at all for McClellan to be thrown into pressure situations.
Derrick Goold has more on the Cardinals’ young fireballer.
Yes, something had to be done about Izzy. I respect him, and he’s been with the team for a long time, but something is wrong and I hope he and Dave Duncan find out what it is.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:57 pmI also saw Perez in Spring Training, and I was impressed. If he can continue in the Big Show what he was doing in Memphis, he’ll be a great asset to the team.
It sounds like the problem with Isringhausen is all mental, but during the telecast last night, Dan and Al were saying that Troy Percival picked up a flaw in Izzy’s mechanics. We’ll find out soon.
I’m looking forward to seeing Perez in his next time out. I think with his debut out of the way, he might be a little more relaxed, but still amped up, if that makes any sense.
May 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm