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St. Louis Cardinals Activate Seth Maness from DL, Option Dean Kiekhefer

By Patrick Karraker

Apr 5, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Seth Maness (43) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eleventh inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 6-5 in eleven innings. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Seth Maness (43) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eleventh inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 6-5 in eleven innings. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The St. Louis Cardinals added a pitcher with a history of big-league success to their bullpen on Sunday.

In a transaction that some might have viewed as unlikely to occur when he was placed on the disabled list back on May 13, the St. Louis Cardinals activated righthanded relief pitcher Seth Maness from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday and restored him to the major-league roster. Lefthander Dean Kiekhefer was optioned to Triple-A Memphis to make room for Maness on the 25-man roster.

Maness got off to an extremely rough start to the 2016 season, and it was originally announced that he was being optioned to Memphis after he posted a 6.39 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, and .375 opponent batting average over his first 13 games. But after Maness sought further medical advice, the Cardinals changed the transaction to a placement on the disabled list, and Maness was treated for right elbow inflammation.

Manness’s success on his minor-league rehab assignment (just one run allowed on two hits, one walk, and two hit batters in five innings between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis), combined with the trouble that the Cardinals’ bullpen has recently experienced, earned him a second chance with the big-league club. He’ll likely get some high-leverage work right off the bat, as Mike Matheny would probably like to take some of the load off his primary three relievers–Kevin Siegrist, Seung-Hwan Oh, and Trevor Rosenthal–while also avoiding having to use guys like Matt Bowman and Jonathan Broxton in crucial situations.

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Kiekhefer, who made his first trip to the big leagues when Maness was placed on the DL last month, had a 5.73 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and .267 opponent batting average in 11 innings. The 27-year-old got lots of mop-up work since he was at the bottom of the bullpen depth chart, but when asked to do the thing that he’s generally done best–getting lefties out–he did his job, holding lefthanded hitters to a .174 average.

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