Brebbia Recalled For Bullpen

A day after voicing confidence that he would be able to return soon, Ryan Sherriff has been placed on the 10-day disabled list by the St. Louis Cardinals with a fractured toe.

“They did find a small fracture,” explained Manager Mike Matheny.

Sherriff was struck on the foot by a Ketel Marte line drive in the home opener this past Thursday.

Reliever John Brebbia has been recalled from Memphis (AAA) to take Sherrif’s roster spot.

“I’m fresh,” described Brebbia, who had yet to appear in the first three games for the Redbirds, but shared he has been throwing side sessions to stay sharp.

The move leaves the Cardinals with only Tyler Lyons as a southpaw in the bullpen.

“Having another lefty is nice, obviously, we were using him too,” said Matheny. “Look at the work load or at least the ups we had for Tyler (Lyons) and Sherriff both. And we’re getting ready to face Milwaukee again. You’re talking about between Yelich and you’ve got Thames, you’ve got Shaw–big, left-handed bats.

“But I’m also liking how we’re seeing a Dom (Leone) who can get lefties out. A number of our pitchers–with what Bud’s doing, to be able to have some pretty good splits as well. We’re just going to have to attack them with potentially who’s our best pitcher, whether it’s right-handed or left at that time.”

Fellow left-handed reliever Brett Cecil is eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list (shoulder) tomorrow, but was wearing a walking boot on his right foot today.

“When he started doing work to get his shoulder right, he mentioned to the doctors about an on-going foot thing he had,” said Matheny. “They’re just being a little cautious. I think you’re only going to see it a day or so. They’re just wanting to see it calm down a little bit and get him back on track.”

The Cardinals are likely to have more bullpen roster moves in the very near future as Greg Holland is expected to join the team tomorrow and Luke Gregerson isn’t far behind as both threw for Palm Beach (A+) last night.

Starting the 1st inning, Holland allowed one earned run on two hits with a strikeout, while Gregerson followed with two strikeouts in the 2nd inning as Palm Beach beat Jupiter 7-3.

“It’s not always bad performances that makes somebody go, it’s just sometimes it’s numbers,” reminded Matheny of how the bullpen decisions could be made. “How about Jack Flaherty? That wasn’t a bad performance. Part of being a young pitcher is part of having options. We’ve got to sometimes make decisions that are tough for anybody and don’t deserve it.

“I can think of multiple times last year we sent down Sam Tuivailala because he was the one guy with options. That’s the business of this game. Guys get it. They don’t necessarily like and I don’t necessarily blame them, but that’s how it’s going to work. We’ve got to make sure that we’re making room because you do–if Holland’s ready to go, regardless of how somebody’s pitching, you’ve got to find room.”

Relievers Matt Bowman, John Brebbia, Jordan Hicks, Dominic Leone, and Mike Mayers all have remaining options.

photo credit: Brian Stull/STLBaseballWeekly.com