MLB
After losing over a year to Tommy John surgery, Alex Reyes made his 2018 debut on Wednesday. It was a long awaited start for Reyes and Cardinal Nation.
Alex Reyes’ 2018 Debut
Alex Reyes got his afternoon off to a hot start. He struck out Lorenzo Cain to leadoff the game, then picked off Christian Yelich after giving up a base hit. Reyes got another strikeout to end the first and it looked like it was going to be a long day for the Brewers.
The second inning brought some trouble for the young starter. A leadoff walk and a single put runners on first and second to start the inning. Reyes then got a double play ball from Jonathan Villar. It looked like Villar was safe at first, but the Brewers didn’t challenge. Eric Sogard drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive and was followed by a hit by pitch from Erik Kratz to load the bases. Fortunately, for Reyes, the pitcher was the next hitter and he flew out to end the threat.
Reyes’ third inning of work started with a leadoff single from Lorenzo Cain. Cain was thrown out by Kelly, though, trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt. On the next pitch, Reyes got a groundout from Yelich for the second out of the inning. A fly out then ended the inning and Reyes was through three on 59 pitches.
The Brewers went down in order for the first time in the fourth inning. This would end up being the last inning of a solid first outing for Reyes. With his pitch count at 73, in his first start, and a runner at third and one out in a scoreless game with his spot due up, he was pulled in favor of Greg Garcia.
Summary
Alex Reyes’ final line for the day was 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO. Though it would’ve been nice for Reyes to go deeper in the game, it was a good start for Reyes. He kept the team in a pitchers duel and matched Junior Guerra for four innings. It will be interesting to see if he can go deeper into the game next time he starts. Overall, this was a step in the right direction for Reyes.
This article was originally written by former TSJ101SPORTS MLB Department editor and writer Canyon Clark. Due to systems modalities, the article has been assigned to the author tag designation “Former Writers”.
