St. Louis Cardinals: Tyler Lyons Spring Training Debut, And What It Means

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Tyler Lyons made his debut in the Grapefruit League against the Braves.

This outing is somewhat unexpected, considering Tyler Lyons had surgery in his knee during the off season.  But he was cleared to pitch with full mobility, and pitched only one St. Louis Cardinals inning.  He gave up two hits and two runs while striking out one and walking one during this appearance.  More information can be found here, in an article written by Jennifer Langosch.

An interesting point that Langosch brings up is that Lyons will most likely not make the Major League roster at the start of the season, but he is out of Minor League options.  The good news is that Lyons will still be eligible to stay on the disabled list to start the season, which will grant the St. Louis Cardinals time to decide what to do.

So this begs the question, what will happen with Tyler Lyons?  Well, he has been putting in the work to return.  The fact that he was able to pitch in a live game is a great sign to his health, and for his timetable to return.  In Langosch’s article, Lyons is quoted as saying, “Injury-wise, I felt great.”

He later expressed concerns about the speed of the game being fast.  That is not a huge concern.  The game will slow down very quickly, and as long as his knee remains healthy he will have no issues with that moving forward.

But that is not a given.  Lyons has had consistent issues with his knee.  He tried getting new cartilage in the midst of  the 2016 season.  That did not work because he still felt the discomfort in his knee, leading him to the surgery during this off season.  A surgery that was set to keep him out of commission for at least five months, if not more.

That was four months ago, but the timetable is still relevant.  There is no need to rush back a pitcher from surgery.  Especially surgery on a lingering discomfort.  It is not for a playoff push that the St. Louis Cardinals would be wanting another arm in the bullpen.  They will be just fine early in the season without Lyons.  So expect him to start the year on the DL.

Lyons will be back early in the season though, which will become decision time.  He is more than just a reliever, he can be a spot starter if necessary.  This means if one of the unstable arms coming off injury, or simply just an aging arm, is not performing then Lyons will be an option to fill in the rotation.

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What it comes down to is, the versatility of Lyons is an asset to have in the organization.  Without any minor league options left, an unhealthy and unprepared arm creates an issue.  But when his knee heals, be it a month into the season or longer, he will have a spot in the bullpen.

Through thirty games last year, he posted a 3.38 ERA with forty-six strikeouts and fourteen walks. In other words, he would very much be welcomed in the St. Louis Cardinals pen.

Coming from the left side, he was able to have success against both righties and lefties.  He actually faced more righties than lefties in 2016: 116 to 71.  His pitches provide a higher strikeout rate against righties with a twenty-seven percent strikeout rate to a seventeen percent against lefties.  But naturally lefties don’t get as many hits off of him.  Lefties hit .152, while righties posted a .234 batting average against.

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A healthy Lyons will be a boost to the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen.  Along with the signing of left-handed pitcher Brett Cecil, Lyons will provide another dependable lefty arm into the mix.  The only hope is that the team can keep him.  If he needs to be sent down to the minors, there is a very large chance he will not clear waivers, and will be claimed by another team.