It’s been 15 months since St. Louis Cardinals’ top prospect Alex Reyes underwent Tommy John surgery. Saturday night, he took a big step toward making his return to the Major Leagues.
“I thought it was a very positive outing. I felt like I was very efficient. I think this was the longest outing of my career. Just being able to get that deep in the game is exciting,” Reyes said.
Reyes struck out 13 batters, allowing just 1 hit in 7.2 innings pitched in Springfield’s 1-0 win over visiting Northwest Arkansas. The 13 punchouts ties a team record set nine years ago by Trey Hearne.
“That’s my focus every night. That’s been my things throughout my minor league career, even in the big leagues is getting deeper in the games. Being able to do that today is exciting,” said Reyes.
The 23-year-old Reyes had his fastball in the high-90s, mixing in a lot of curveballs. He threw 60 strikes in his 93 total pitches, walking 3 batters.
Reyes started the season on the 60-day disabled list. Since returning two weeks ago he’s thrown 16 innings split between Peoria, Palm Beach and Springfield, striking out 13 batters.
