St. Louis Cardinals: Keep Alex Reyes In the Rotation

St. Louis Cardinals’ rookie phenom, Alex Reyes, made his first major league start on Saturday with mixed reviews, but it’s time he stays in the rotation.

More than 41,000 fans packed Busch Stadium on Saturday night, and they weren’t there to see the St. Louis Cardinals offense struggle against another pitcher they had never heard of. Instead, Cardinal Nation filed in to see rookie sensation Alex Reyes make his first major league start.

Yours truly was there to see the game live. It was a mixed bag of results.

The now 22-year old (today is his birthday) lasted just 4.2 innings and yielded one earned run on one hit, with four strikeouts and four walks as the Cardinals eventually lost 3-2. Despite the mixed reviews, it’s time the Cardinals keep Reyes in the starting rotation.

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Initially, I was going to make the case that St. Louis should go with a six-man rotation from here on out with Reyes and fellow rookie Luke Weaver staying in the mix. But with the news earlier today that Mike Leake has hit the 15-day DL with shingles (the reason Reyes got the start on Saturday), it makes even more sense now for Reyes to stay in the starting rotation.

Others might argue that Reyes could be more helpful in the bullpen. One could certainly make the case. Prior to his first major league start this weekend, Reyes had pitched 9.1 scoreless innings of relief with a whopping 13 strikeouts and only four walks.

If I had been making my case for a six-man rotation today, most fans would cite the Reyes in the bullpen argument as the greatest point against that. But now that Leake has hit the DL, there simply isn’t much of a choice. There isn’t a guy like Marco Gonzales, Tim Cooney or Tyler Lyons for St. Louis to turn to right now.

So, get out your radar guns and hold on to your hats — it’s Alex Reyes time.

Still, Saturday’s game showed us that we may need to dial back expectations. Reyes, no doubt, has electric stuff, and his fastball is free and easy, jumping out of his hand seemingly without much effort. But it’s no secret that his biggest issue is the walks.

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Reyes walked four in his first major league start in just 4.2 innings and constantly worked behind the count to hitters. That is a dangerous game to play at the Major League level. No matter how great that fastball is, good Major League hitters can catch up to it if it’s constantly coming right down the pipe for a strike.

Reyes has fanned 449 batters in 334 innings pitched in the minors, but he has also accumulated a 4.4 walks per nine during that time — an alarming number no matter how impressive the strikeouts are.

Control and lowering his pitching count will be the biggest hurdles that Reyes needs to overcome to be successful in the starting rotation. In that regard, he should seek advice and counsel from Carlos Martinez.

Once upon a time, Carlos had the same issues — constantly falling behind hitters and taking 80, 90 even 100 pitches to get through five or six innings. Martinez’s mentorship and leadership with Reyes in the coming month could prove vital in the top prospect’s success and the Cardinals’ push for a wildcard spot.

Next: Time to Pick Up Yasiel Puig

The St. Louis Cardinals need Reyes to step up in the coming weeks or month that he stays in the starting rotation. We will see if the rookie can make his mark now that he is getting the chance. Either way, this young Cardinals rotation looks to be a bright spot for a long time, and fans should be excited about that.