St. Louis Cardinals: Carlos Martinez to DL, Mike Mayers recalled

The St. Louis Cardinals will be without their ace in Carlos Martinez as Mike Mayers will take his spot on the major league roster.

After a rough start against the New York Mets on Opening Day, Carlos Martinez has been nothing short of phenomenal for the St. Louis Cardinals. Since giving up five runs (four earned) to the Mets, Martinez has not had more than two earned runs in seven starts. In Martinez’s last start he allowed four runs to the Minnesota Twins, but two of those runs were due to sloppy fielding.

With the National League’s ERA leader sidelined, it will up be to Miles Mikolas to be the ace for a bit.

Meanwhile, Jack Flah-, I mean, Mike Mayers has been recalled for the fourth time this season. Mayers has done well throughout his miniature stints will the St. Louis Cardinals, sporting an ERA of 1.86 in 9 2/3 innings.

However, Cardinal Nation is left to ponder why Jack Flaherty – who has been abusing AAA hitters – was not recalled. Yes, Martinez’s injury is not long term, but Flaherty’s numbers speak for themselves.

Flaherty has a 2.27 ERA in five starts for Memphis and in his recent start he struck out 13 batters in 6 2/3 innings while allowing two runs on six hits.

Despite numerous signs that Flaherty is ready to see full time action in the majors, he continues to stay in Memphis while other players have been recalled and optioned like it is going out of style in order to have fresh arms for the bullpen.

And with Alex Reyes firing 99 MPH fastballs again, it is looking like Flaherty’s chances of seeing big league action again this season before September are slowly fading away.

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Mayers should be able to hold down the fort while Martinez recovers, but it is still confusing as to why Jack Flaherty continues to get overlooked.