St. Louis Cardinals: Tyler Lyons to DL; Brett Cecil activated

The St. Louis Cardinals injury carousel continues to roll on with another bullpen move.

This afternoon the St. Louis Cardinals placed Tyler Lyons on the 10-day DL with a mid-back strain. In a corresponding move the team has recalled Brett Cecil. The move will now put the Cardinals’ number of players to hit the DL this season at 11.

Tyler Lyons had been a go-to arm for manager Mike Matheny to this point of the season. He had pitched in 18 of the team’s 35 games. The injury will be retroactive to May 9th with Lyons not pitching in the first contest against the Padres.

In his place, Brett Cecil will be called upon to fill a large role. The team has struggled to man enough lefty arms out of the bullpen due to injuries. Cecil is no exception. After appearing in just one game, Cecil was placed on the disabled list with a strained left shoulder and left foot tendinitis.

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There was expectation that Cecil would not be back for a couple more weeks but with Lyons heading to the DL and Cecil looking good in his rehab the move makes sense. Barring any issues with his shoulder, Cecil will be a welcomed fresh arm to come out of a bullpen that has been fairly taxed to this point early in the year.

After a disappointing first year in a Cardinal jersey, Brett Cecil will look to improve upon his 3.88 ERA he posted in 2017. Cecil was arguably the teams most up and down pitcher last season. Through stretches Cecil would show glimpses of the player the team signed to a four-year, 30.5 million dollar deal. While his ERA did float around 4 or 5 all season finishing with a 3.88 was a solid finish for the lefty.

Next: Rotation logjams coming

While Cecil wasn’t utilized in Friday’s 9-5 rout of the Padres, he was available. Whether or not or when or not Brett Cecil will be used remains to be seen but expect the lefty to be ready to go.