Decision Remains On Bowman

(Jupiter, FL) Within the next nine days, Matt Bowman will gain some clarity as to where he will be pitching this season. The qualification of “some” applies as his Rule 5 draft status still provides a few different options.

Bowman, who the St. Louis Cardinals selected from the New York Mets with the 11th overall pick back in January, must either be kept on the team’s 25-man active roster the entire season or placed on waivers. If he were to clear waivers, he would then be offered back to New York. Should the Mets decline, the Cardinals could then add Bowman to their minor league roster.

“I don’t think anyone would look at it as I’ve got a 25-man slot,” said Bowman earlier this spring. “It’s just that you’ve got a great opportunity ahead of you and you want to make the most of it. I’m just happy that they picked me up. I’ll do my best to show them what I’ve got and hopefully it matches up with what they need.”

Things got off to a rough start for Bowman, who missed some time after being struck in the eye with an errant ball. Since his blurred vision cleared up, the right-hander has appeared in four games, allowing eight runs in six innings pitched.

And now with only the final nine games of the Grapefruit League remaining, innings–and opportunity, for Bowman may become more limited. Jordan Walden has been healthy and unscored upon this spring. Trevor Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist, and Seth Maness have been staples the last couple of seasons. Jonathan Broxton and Seung Hwan Oh signed free agent deals during the off-season and Tyler Lyons is out of options. With five pitchers in the rotation, that equals 12 pitchers.

“I’ve tried to avoid looking into who they have and how roster spots could go,” said Bowman. “I’m a certain type of pitcher. If they need me–I’m going to pitch to the best of my ability and hopefully, that’s something they need.”

That need could be his sinker, which is something Bowman has focused on since he was drafted by the Mets.

“I pretty much always had some natural sink on the ball,” he shared. “They said we like the movement you can make and we’d like you to focus on that, so pretty much since 2012 I’ve been pretty actively trying to make the ball sink.”

Additional off-days early in the schedule could allow for an extra reliever to start on the roster instead of a fifth starter, but that would only be a temporary solution which could be better suited for a Mitch Harris or Sam Tuivailala, who both have options.

photo credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports