St. Louis Cardinals: The loss of Alex Reyes is bad but not that bad

The St. Louis Cardinals suffered yet another loss today with the news of Reyes but we fans should all remember the detrimental loss suffered years ago.

The St. Louis Cardinals must lick their wounds once more as they now crab walk back from Alex Reyes‘ last start. The young phenom had finally made his way back to the majors after undergoing Tommy John surgery that cut his career short once already.

I am sad. Let me say that because I watched his dominating performance in Memphis during his final rehab start and I really thought the tides were a-changing for the St. Louis Cardinals with his resurgence. I am also sad because I worry now what this will do to his value in the years to come.

More on that later…

Despite all my sadness, however, I find that we must take a moment and realize that all is not lost. Reyes is still very much alive and can now turn his attention to the 2019 season. He should rest and rehab as directed and come back in 2019 with a vengeance.

Notice that I said above that he is alive. This was not a play on words and was instead intentional. While the St. Louis Cardinals would love to have Reyes with the rotation this season, the likes of Carlos Martinez, near-no-hit Michael Wacha, and Miles Mikolas seem to be holding the rotation together just fine.

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And I would be remiss if I left out Jack Flaherty. True, his rise is would likely be largely eclipsed by the return of Reyes but this young arm is still one to watch.

All of this said, when I read the news of Reyes’ early departure (yet again), I was reminded of the hope of his return which is something we cannot say about Oscar Taveras. The loss of Taveras was one that the St. Louis Cardinals still carry to this day.

Where Reyes has promise, Taveras had an equal amount. Where Reyes’ season was cut short, Taveras’ life was cut far too short.

So, while the loss of Reyes will impact 2018, his return will impact 2019. We cannot say the same thing about Taveras… and that is an injustice I simply cannot get past.

Back to Reyes’ value: I find myself worried that this additional medical setback will impact his value to other teams not named the St. Louis Cardinals. That might not matter so long as the Cardinals intend to hold onto him beyond 2019 but if they were to decide to shop this young arm, I feel that other teams would shy away thanks to his injury past.

Let’s hope that he returns in 2019 with fire and passion and that what I watched in Memphis at the end of May will return when Reyes does after healing from this recent surgery.

Next: Day two of the MLB Draft

The St. Louis Cardinals are a resilient bunch and I am sure they will rebound from this loss. The question remains if the fans will rebound.