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.