St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Alex Reyes has a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and will have season-ending Tommy John surgery, the team announced Wednesday.
The tear was discovered after Reyes, expected to be a leading contender for National League Rookie of the Year, had an MRI on Tuesday afternoon. Dr. George Paletta will perform the procedure, likely Thursday.
“It’s obviously very disappointing,” general manager John Mozeliak said. “We had high expectations for him.”
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With a revamped roster, the last thing the Cardinals needed to hear on their first day back was that their top pitching prospect might miss the season.
With growing concern that pitcher Alex Reyes could be lost for the season, the Cardinals may find themselves relying on Michael Wacha to get back to his previous form. Listen
Andrew Benintendi and Dansby Swanson have already produced in the majors, but they’re not the only prospects who can help their clubs this season.
The 22-year-old right-hander made his major league debut Aug. 9 and was 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA in five starts and seven relief appearances.
Reyes, whose fastball touches 100 mph, was expected to compete with Michael Wacha to be the team’s fifth starter. He also had been selected to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
Heading into spring training, there had been speculation that the Cardinals might lessen Wacha’s workload by moving him to the bullpen, but Mozeliak said he expects a healthy Wacha to be in the starting rotation. He’s 32-21 in his career for the Cardinals.
Reyes first experienced soreness in his elbow late last week and alerted the team’s trainers, who decided to wait until Tuesday’s physical to administer tests.
Mozeliak said an MRI taken of Reyes’ elbow in 2013 showed a strain. He didn’t begin his minor league season until June that season.
ESPN’s Keith Law has Reyes ranked as the No. 2 pitching prospect in baseball.
ESPN’s Mark Saxon and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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