On Tuesday it was Marco Gonzales getting the turn for Carlos Martinez and tonight Tyler Lyons does the same for Michael Wacha.
“We’ve just kind of been keeping our eyes open for an opportunity,” explained Mike Matheny. “Any chance we get to get Michael a break, to get Carlos a break–we were able to do it with Carlos and now we’ll give Michael the same opportunity.”
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“Instead of waiting maybe until we need it and somebody shows that they really need it–maybe at the end of this month and we’ve got to push, that’s not as ideal as being able to be a little more proactive and do it right now.”
Besides the recall of Lyons and optioning of Gonzales back to Memphis for another start there, the St. Louis Cardinals also recalled pitchers Nick Greenwood and Miguel Socolovich to fortify the bullpen.
Martinez will now start Friday, followed by Jaime Garcia and then John Lackey in the rotation. When Wacha or Lance Lynn–who is recovering from a sprained ankle, will pitch is yet to be announced.
“Lance was more of a situational decision the fact that his ankle was coming along well,” said Matheny. “Sat down with the medical staff and just got their information–would there be a potential for an advantage to take a little more time? And since we did have a number of people around, the answer was there could be an advantage. Lance was very adamant about wanting to be out there and still have his start on time and I believe he would have made it. I think he would’ve competed well, but we had the advantage of a little bit of extra time.”
Lyons will be making his seventh start of the season for St. Louis and 10th appearance overall of 2015. He has won his last three starts at Memphis, allowing five runs in 19.0 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts.
photo credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
