St. Louis Cardinals Activate Kevin Siegrist from 15-Day DL, Option Sam Tuivailala to Memphis
The St. Louis Cardinals get back a lefty who could provide a nice in-house pick-me-up to the bullpen.
As the St. Louis Cardinals return from the All-Star break, they’ll get back an important member of their bullpen. The Cardinals have activated lefthanded pitcher Kevin Siegrist from the 15-day DL in advance of Friday night’s game against the Miami Marlins. To make room for him on the roster, they’ve optioned righty Sam Tuivailala to Triple-A Memphis.
Siegrist has been on the DL since July 1 while battling mononucleosis. While his illness appeared to limit his effectiveness a bit before his placement on the disabled list, Siegrist has been valuable this year, posting a 2.78 ERA with a 0.96 WHIP and .179 opponent batting average over 32 1/3 innings this year.
Tuivailala experienced mixed results over three outings with the big-league club.
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He posted a 13.50 ERA and 2.00 WHIP, but much of the damage was done in his first big-league appearance of the year, during which he allowed three earned runs on two hits and a hit batter while failing to record an out. He followed that outing with two scoreless one-inning appearances, the first of which was perfect.
While Tuivailala was once viewed to have major upside as part of the Cardinals’ pen, this year hasn’t been too kind to him. Obviously it’s a small sample size, but Tuivailala’s fastball velocity has been down this year, as he’s averaged 95.7 MPH on 37 fastballs. Tuivailala’s fastball, which has topped out at 99.5 MPH at the big-league level, has only reached 97.3 MPH this year, and his average is roughly half a tick down from his career average of 96.2 MPH.
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It should be interesting to see how Siegrist’s return affects the bullpen going forward. His absence created an opportunity for the bullpen’s other lefty, Tyler Lyons, to shine. Lyons took full advantage of it, and it stands to reason that Lyons will maintain a more important role now, as he’s limited lefty hitters to a .137 average this season and has allowed just one hit in four “late and close” innings. Siegrist’s return may instead reduce the responsibilities of Jonathan Broxton, who has struggled to a 4.50 ERA over four innings in July.