St. Louis Cardinals: Alex Reyes’ immediate impact will help Cards

The St. Louis Cardinals’ young right-hander will make his season debut against the Milwaukee Brewers. His immediate impact could push the Cardinals a long way.

I haven’t seen this much excitement surrounding a St. Louis Cardinals game in quite some time. It’s for good reason too. Alex Reyes, the pitching jewel of the Cardinals’ farm system, makes his long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery against the Milwaukee Brewers today. After being nothing short of impressive in all his rehab starts, including his last one in triple-A where he struck out nine batters in a row, all eyes now turn to see what kind of impact Reyes will have with the big league club.

It’s hard to imagine any scenario where Alex Reyes’ return to the starting rotation won’t be a positive thing. Sure, you can hold out some hesitancy in the case his rehab starts do not translate to the big leagues. After all, he is dealing with better hitters than what he’s seen over the last couple of weeks. You also don’t want to see Reyes overdo anything just because he is back with the big league squad.

But I’m not buying the negativity. Here are some of the positives of Alex Reyes’ return:

Bolstering the St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation

Any time you can add an arm like Reyes’ to your starting staff, you’re in a good spot. Any time you can add an arm like Reyes to one of the best rotations in baseball, you’re in a better spot. The St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation sports the third best ERA in baseball and have easily outperformed any expectations so far this season. Even though Reyes will slot into the backend of the rotation due to scheduling reasons, he is easily the Cardinals best pitcher in the current rotation.

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If Reyes’ rehab starts are any indication of what the Cardinals are about to receive, then imagine what it will be like when Carlos Martinez also returns to the rotation.

A rotation of Martinez, Reyes, Miles Mikolas, Michael Wacha and Jack Flaherty shapes up to be one of the best in the National League by far. Factor in how the other rotations in the NL Central have fared so far this season, you’d be looking at the best rotation in the division.

But Reyes’ return comes at an interesting time for the Cardinals.

The inconsistencies of the St. Louis’ offense have cast a cloud over the team large enough to make you forget how good the starting pitching has been. If the inconsistencies are going to continue, then the pressure on the starting rotation will continue to increase. This just speaks to the importance of bolstering the rotation with an arm like Reyes, but the starting pitching can only do so much.

Bullpen also receives help

The inevitable thing about Reyes’ return, coupled with Martinez’s return, is someone in the rotation will be the odd man out. We won’t know who that person is just yet, but I would imagine Luke Weaver is on the shortlist to make the transition to the bullpen. But it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Weaver is a quality arm needed in the bullpen just as bad as Reyes is needed in the rotation. For the various reason we’ve seen this season, Weaver could provide some stability in the middle innings the St. Louis Cardinals have yet to receive from some relievers on a consistent basis. The performances by some “key” acquisitions in the offseason, such as Greg Holland and Brett Cecil, have been so poor at this point the Cardinals should be willing to try anything to get the bullpen right.

It may not be Weaver’s preferred option, but the Cardinals don’t really have any other options. There is no sense in sending Weaver down when he is a better option in the bullpen then what we’ve seen.

Remember to manage your expectations

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype for today’s start, so don’t come in with some unreasonable expectation for Reyes today. I’m thinking, depending on his pitch count, Reyes will look to go six to seven innings tonight and see where it goes from there. But if it goes south a little bit, don’t hang your hat on that. He will be just fine.

Next: USA Today predicts Dondalson to the Cards

What are you looking for in tonight’s start from Reyes? Let me know in the comments below.