Evaluating the last 10 hyped prospect debuts for the St. Louis Cardinals

Over the last ten years, Cardinal fans have been treated to some strong prospects. Which of the prospects had great debuts and which struggled?

NLCS - San Francisco Giants v St Louis Cardinals - Game Two
NLCS - San Francisco Giants v St Louis Cardinals - Game Two | Dilip Vishwanat/GettyImages
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Alex Reyes

Fans often wonder what could have been with Alex Reyes. Reyes was ranked as high as #6 in all of baseball in 2017. His dominant stuff and ace-type velocity made him a tantalizing prospect for the Cardinals. Reyes' first appearance came out of the bullpen on August 9th against the Reds. His first start came on August 27th against the Oakland Athletics.

In his first appearance, Reyes pitched the 9th inning; he struck out one batter and kept the bases empty. The team lost, but Reyes got his first inning under his belt. During Reyes's first start, he was able to make it through 4.2 innings and had 4 walks to go along with 4 strikeouts, but he only gave up one run. This was the beginning of a very dominant rookie season for Reyes. He would finish the season with 46 innings over 5 starts and 12 total appearances.

Reyes had a 1.57 ERA, 2.67 FIP, 1.217 WHIP, and struck out 52 batters in his first season. The rest of his career is filled with a variety of injuries, some great bullpen appearances, and a disappointing release from the Cardinals after they didn't sign him in the 2023 offseason. Reyes is a story of what could have been for Cardinals fans.

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