St. Louis Cardinals: Alex Reyes Has MRI For Potential Season-Threatening Injury

The first day of Spring Training provided the St. Louis Cardinals with the last thing they wanted to hear. Top pitching prospect Alex Reyes was absent from a throwing session this morning and instead received an MRI on his pitching elbow.

Pitchers and catchers began formal workouts today for the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Florida, but the biggest headline from today is a developing story regarding Alex Reyes.

Reyes was set to pitch in the World Baseball Classic next month for his native Dominican Republic and compete for the fifth spot in the Cardinals’ rotation this spring.

Baseball America ranked the 22-year old as the #4 prospect in all of baseball to begin the season. He recorded a 1.67 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 46 big-league innings last season.

Jenifer Langosch of mlb.com reported this morning that Reyes would not be throwing as scheduled because he had not yet been cleared by the team’s medical staff:

About an hour later, she confirmed that Reyes received an MRI on his right arm:

Reyes had approached the team’s medical staff about discomfort in his right elbow, General Manager John Mozeliak said:

Mozeliak went on to say that the team would not speculate the severity of any potential injury and would wait for the results of the MRI tomorrow:

Craig Mish of Sirius XM Radio tweeted this morning that the MRI could be because of an injury that is potentially season-ending for Reyes:

Any time a pitcher receives an MRI there is adequate reason for concern. The fact that Reyes’ MRI was conducted on his pitching elbow heightens that concern and hints at the need for Tommy-John surgery, which would cost him the entire season.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweeted that the team is concerned Reyes will indeed need Tommy-John:

Unfortunately, this kind of news has been all too familiar for the Cardinals in recent years. In 2011, Adam Wainwright tore ligaments in his elbow during a live batting practice session in February and required Tommy-John surgery, missing the entire year.

In 2013, closer Jason Motte also injured his pitching elbow during Spring Training and saw his season come to an end after receiving Tommy-John a few months later.

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Last spring, Jhonny Peralta broke his thumb in a Grapefruit League game and missed more than half the season.

If Reyes is out for an extended amount of time, Michael Wacha will likely be the fifth starter in the rotation to begin the year. That would also leave a spot open in the bullpen, likely to be taken by Miguel Socolovich, who is out of minor-league options.

A year after the Cardinals lacked starting pitching depth due to injury (Marco Gonzales, Tim Cooney, Tyler Lyons), they felt comfortable enough with their depth heading into the 2017 season that they traded Jaime Garcia to the Braves in November.

Their depth may be tested again this season. Gonzales just started throwing off of a mound for the first time since last Spring. Cooney is no longer with the club. Lyons is working towards being ready by April.

An injury to Reyes could open the door for Luke Weaver to make an impact on the big-league roster sooner than he may have expected. He’s been penciled in to begin the year in the AAA Memphis rotation. Weaver went 1-4 with a 5.70 ERA last season for St. Louis, striking out 45 in 36 1/3 innings of work.

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For now, it seems that we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get more news on Reyes. Stay with us as we bring you the latest on his status in addition to the latest news and analysis from Cardinals camp.