Tyler Lyons Likely to Start for Cardinals on Tuesday

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Despite having been moved to the bullpen over the past week as the St. Louis Cardinals were graced with an off day, lefthander Tyler Lyons is expected to get another starting assignment on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves. The 26-year-old Lyons has been more effective as a reliever than as a starter this year, but he has been serviceable overall. Lyons was not by any means perfect in either of his two starts, but he would have given the Cardinals a chance to win in both of them had the offense been operating effectively. After doing a nice job of eating up some innings on Tuesday night by giving up one run on two hits and three strikeouts in two innings of relief, he came back and  threw a perfect inning against the Chicago Cubs on Friday which marked his first scoreless outing of the year.

Even if he is dominant in his next start, Lyons shouldn’t count on being in the Cardinals’ rotation too much longer. Lefty Jaime Garcia is scheduled to make a rehab start on Sunday with the Springfield Cardinals, so he could be closer to returning than Joe Kelly, who has now missed three weeks with a hamstring injury. With that said, Lyons is definitely a candidate to stick around for the long term in the major-league bullpen. The Cardinals could use a consistent reliever capable of going multiple innings like Lyons, and he would provide another lefthanded presence, which is particularly desirable considering lefty Kevin Siegrist’s ineffectiveness to this point in the season.