Cardinals Top Bullpen Addition Reached Major Milestone Showing Return Is Near
St. Louis could start to get reinforcements back in the near future from the Injured List
The St. Louis Cardinals certainly were busy this past offseason.
St. Louis entered the offseason with a clear goal of improving the pitching throughout the organization. The Cardinals had a dreadful 2023 campaign and the biggest reason why is because the rotation and bullpen both struggled.
The Cardinals used free agency as a tool to improve both and seem to have done a pretty good job so far. St. Louis' rotation is in a significantly better place and the bullpen is better, but has dealt with injuries.
One player who has dealt with a tough injury is top free-agent addition Keynan Middleton. He has been dealing with a right flexor tendon strain since Spring Training and hasn't appeared in a game yet this season.
This might not be the case for much longer as he reportedly took a major step in his recovery on Friday and threw off a mound for the first time in nearly a month, according to MLB.com's John Denton.
"Cardinals reliever Keynan Middleton (right flexor tendon strain) will throw off a mound today for the first time since he was shut down on March 3," Denton said. "He will need a few of those sessions before beginning a Minor League rehab assignment later this month."
Middleton throwing off of a mound certainly is a great sign for the Cardinals. If he can get another session under his belt it wouldn't be too surprising to see him start a rehab assignment soon. After a rehab assignment, he will be back up with the big league club.
He was great last season with a 3.38 ERA and 64-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio with the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. It sounds like reinforcements are on the way for the Cardinals.
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