St. Louis Cardinals: So what is Alex Reyes’ role in 2020?

The former top prospect has battled injury after injury after injury. With a clean slate for 2020, how will the St. Louis Cardinals utilize him?

We have all heard the cliché, life is not fair. For Alex Reyes and the St. Louis Cardinals, life is really not fair.

With only seven innings pitched in the last three seasons, many fans wonder not when, but if Alex Reyes will ever become the dominant pitcher he was advertised to be.

His injury history is, shall we stay, rather long. In 2017, a torn UCL led to Tommy John Surgery, which ended what should have been his first full MLB season.

In 2018, Reyes started on May 30th in Milwaukee. He only lasted four innings and left with trainer Adam Olson after his fastball velocity dropped drastically. We would later find out that Reyes had a strained right lateral tendon. Another season-ending injury.

Last season, Reyes appeared in four games, but his control was erratic. After he was sent down to Memphis, Reyes continued to struggle with command. The frustration reached a boiling point, and he punched a wall in anger. That gave him a broken pinky finger.

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Later on, in August, Reyes felt discomfort near his right pectoral. It turns out that there was a right pectoral strain and again his season was over.

So what can we expect this time around for Alex Reyes?

A rotation spot is out of the question, especially after the recent signing of Korean southpaw Kwang-Hyun Kim. We also do not know what the status will be for Carlos Martínez. Will he either be a starter or will be in the ‘pen again?

The Cardinals want to see Reyes as a starter but not for 2020. The best option for him will be to ease him into the bullpen as a late-inning reliever. From Derrick Gould of the Post-Dispatch:

"The Cardinals recognize it would be foolish to expect the righthander to leap from seven innings in the majors the past three seasons to 170 innings as a starter. They want to get him the innings he needs to find the control he lacked this past season, flaunt the health he’s quested for since 2016, and see where that takes him.They see an open path for Reyes to ride his mix of above-average pitches to a late-inning, even high-leverage role. If Carlos Martinez moves to the rotation as the Cardinals and he hope, the ninth is someone else’s for the taking."

Alex Reyes still has the stuff and the potential to be a weapon with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he has to remain healthy. 2020 is a make or break season in my opinion for the young right-hander. Given the injuries listed above, it would behoove the Cardinals’ front office and staff to ease Reyes back into a major league role. That said, it comes down to performance.

Reyes is a sunk cost at this point. The team isn’t counting on him for anything in specific, but they will gladly take any contributions he can provide and that’s the attitude they are showing thus far. It is sad to see such a highly ranked prospect fall so far, but sometimes that’s just the way things go in baseball.

If Reyes succumbs to injury again, we fans won’t be left with just another “What if?” It will be, “What could have been…”