The St. Louis Cardinals had a chance to see big-armed prospect Alex Reyes last season. Is he ready to take a rotation spot in 2017?
Player Profile
Reyes and the St. Louis Cardinals really started what has become a recent trend in the Latin market of U.S.-born players establishing residency with family and/or friends in the Latin market in order to circumvent the draft.
Reyes originally is from New Jersey and moved to the Dominican at age 17. He was signed just after his 18th birthday by the Cardinals for just short of a million dollars in bonus, the second largest bonus for a Dominican pitcher that season.
The Cardinals started Reyes with their advanced rookie league team in the Appalachian League. He made 12 starts, throwing 58 1/3 innings, with a 3.39 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and a 28/68 BB/K ratio. Baseball Prospectus took note of the youngster’s performance, ranking him the #98 overall prospect.
In 2014, he spent his first full season in full season ball, pitching in the Midwest League all season for Peoria, making 21 starts and throwing 109 innings, with a 3.63 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and a 61/137 BB/K ratio.
After the 2014 season, he was ranked as the #51 overall prospect by Baseball America and the #55 overall prospect by Baseball Prospectus.
The Cardinals moved Reyes up to high-A, and his performance forced their hand to move him up to AA as well, and he even finished the 2015 season with a stint in the Arizona Fall League.
In the regular season, Reyes had a combined line of 22 starts, 101 innings, a 2.49 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 49/151 BB/K ratio. In the Arizona Fall League, he made 4 starts, throwing 15 innings, with a 3.60 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, and a 10/14 BB/K ratio.
After that big season, he was rated as the #7 overall prospect by Baseball America and #10 overall prospect by Baseball Prospectus.
Reyes faced a “drug of abuse” suspension to open the 2016 season for a positive test for marijuana, and his minor league season started late due to this. He ended up making 14 starts for the Cardinals’ AAA affiliate in the Pacific Coast League, throwing 65 1/3 innings with a 4.96 ERA and 1.45 WHIP and a 32/94 BB/K ratio.
Reyes was called up for the end of the season to the Cardinals as a swing man in their bullpen and worked his way into the rotation, making 12 appearances, including 5 starts, throwing 46 innings with a 1.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and a 23/52 BB/K ratio.
Next: Reyes' scouting report