St. Louis Cardinals Sign RHP Jerome Williams to Minor-League Deal

With no major-league-tested starting pitching depth remaining at Triple-A Memphis, the Cardinals added a grizzled big-league veteran to the fold on Friday.

It’s been a rough year so far for the Memphis Redbirds’ starting rotation. The bad blows started coming before the season, as top prospect Alex Reyes–a player who may otherwise have started at Double-A, but was expected all along to contribute in Memphis this year–was forced to miss the beginning of the season due to a marijuana suspension.

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Former first-rounder

never threw a pitch for Memphis this year after undergoing

surgery in the early part of April, and

–who got his feet wet in the majors last summer–has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury that has prevented him from pitching yet this year.

The rotation was recently boosted when Reyes returned from his suspension and was fast-tracked to Memphis, but with big-league vet Jeremy Hefner going down earlier this week with a shoulder injury that will keep him out for a couple months, the Redbirds were completely devoid of  major-league experience in their rotation. The Cardinals solved that problem on Friday, agreeing to a minor-league contract with 34-year-old righthander Jerome Williams, a veteran of 10 major-league seasons.

Williams has had a very interesting career path, as he came up with the San Francisco Giants at the age of 21 in 2003. He got off to a great start, going 7-5 while posting a 3.30 ERA over 21 starts that year. He regressed the next year, though, and in 2005 he was sent back to the minors and later traded from the Cubs to the Giants. (Fun fact: before being demoted in ’05, Williams’ catcher was none other than Mike Matheny, who’d be his manager if he ever makes it to the majors with the Cardinals). He’d bounce between the majors and minors for the next two years, moving on from the Cubs to the Nationals in 2007, before going through a three-year period where he didn’t appear in any major-league games.

After spending the 2010 season in Taiwan, though, Williams seemed to find his form again, and he was back in the majors by the end of the 2011 season with the Los Angeles Angels. After spending two more seasons in Anaheim, Williams would also see action with the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, and Philadelphia Phillies. While pitching in 33 games (starting 21) for the Phillies last season, Williams went 4-12 with a 5.80 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and .317 opponent average.

Next: Would Kolten Wong Benefit from a Triple-A Stint?

Williams’ career numbers–a 4.57 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and .271 opponent batting average–suggest that he’s not going to be a difference-maker in the Cardinals’ rotation if he ever ends up getting a shot in the big leagues. He’s a guy that can take the ball every five days and hold his own, though, which is more than might be said for some of the Cardinals’ other Triple-A starters right now. It’s probably telling that he hadn’t pitched for any other team, even in spring training, up until now, but if he has anything left in the tank he’s at least worth a look for the Cardinals, who don’t have too many alternatives at Memphis right now.