Baseball in September represents a time when teams on the outside looking in make one last effort to secure a playoff spot. Other clubs fight for positioning. And yet, roster spots for the playoffs remain up for grabs in St. Louis, where a few of the Cardinals’ call-ups are making their case.
Some of the late-season call-ups have already displayed the ability to provide this club with a spark. Starting pitcher Marco Gonzales heads the group.
Here are three things we’ve learned about the Cardinals’ September call-ups:
Manager Mike Matheny has something special in Gonzales, the young left-hander with a filthy changeup. Since being recalled, Gonzales has made four appearances, including one start.
Two of his starts have come against Colorado, the team he grew up rooting for. It was his most recent start against the Rockies that carried more importance, and the 22-year-old delivered with an outstanding effort that earned him the win on Sept. 14. Gonzales pitched into the sixth inning, surrendered one run and struck out nine in the process.
“It was a terrific outing,” Matheny said, according to ESPN.com. “We needed that. He really came up big”
Gonzales will surely be a member of the roster when the playoffs begin.
There was a lot of optimism when the Cardinals promoted power-hitting first baseman Xavier Scruggs earlier this month. Scruggs, a minor leaguer for the majority of his playing career, finally earned his chance in the big leagues.
So far, Scruggs hasn’t done much at the plate to really impress (.231 average), but he’s certainly capable of making an impact off the bench.
Scruggs hit 27 home runs and tallied 87 runs batted in at Triple-A Memphis this season before being promoted. It was good to see Scruggs come through with an RBI single that tied the game 1-1 against the Reds Sunday night. That will do wonders for his confidence going forward.
While we haven’t been able to get a good read on Tommy Pham or Greg Garcia, left-handed reliever Tyler Lyons is trying to build confidence, while fellow reliever Nick Greenwood remains a long-relief option for Matheny. Greenwood worked 1.2 scoreless innings Sunday night against the Reds, which was an encouraging sign.
Not so encouraging is the performances of right-handed reliever Sam Tuivailala. He’s is simply not ready for the big leagues, which comes as no surprise.
No disrespect to the kid, his stuff is nasty, and he has a lot of upside to his game. He’s a hard thrower (97 strikeouts in the minors this season) who needs to tune his mechanics and work on a secondary pitch to accommodate his heater. By the way, according to FanGraphs, Tuivailala’s fastball averages 96.9 mph.
His fastball lacks movement, which was evident Sunday night against the Reds. Tuivailala worked a third of an inning, allowed two runs off three hits, walked a man and watched his ERA soar to 36.00 in two combined relief appearances.
The Cardinals will need the presence of Gonzales and Scruggs in the playoffs. They have the luxury of waiting on the development of their other September call-ups.
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