Another Cardinals pitcher has hit the shelf.
Kwang Hyun Kim has been briefly shut down from throwing after experiencing back stiffness in the middle of a recent bullpen session, manager Mike Shildt said before Saturday’s Grapefruit League game against the Marlins.
“I don’t think it’s a huge setback,” Shildt said, “but nonetheless a setback.”
Since then, Kim’s back has started to loosen up, Shildt added, but the Cardinals will give their left-hander some time to recover and reset before putting any timeline on a potential return date to throw, let alone game action. In any event, Saturday marks the second consecutive day in which a St. Louis pitcher has been shut down after Miles Mikolas was doled a seven- to 10-day pause on Friday while dealing with right shoulder stiffness.
Mikolas will not be in the rotation to start the season, and Kim may be headed for a similar fate.
“We don’t anticipate it being long, but clearly, we don’t know exactly what that timeframe looks like,” Shildt said of Mikolas. “So clearly that opened up a spot in the rotation to start the season, and possibly the same thing with KK. Can’t rule it out.”
The Cardinals’ rotation already had questions entering camp, and now faces even more. Kim’s questionable availability all but locks up a spot for Carlos Martínez behind Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright. Daniel Ponce de Leon -- Saturday’s starter -- as well as John Gant, Johan Oviedo, Jake Woodford and, potentially but less likely, top prospects Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore are candidates to fill out the rotation.
The Cardinals, who did not make a move for a starter this offseason outside of re-signing Wainwright, are experiencing pitching adversity early in what’s expected to be a challenging year for arms. But the club remains steadfast in believing its depth can make up for any losses.
“We are confident in [our starters], and we do have people that have experience doing it,” Shildt said. “That’s really where the confidence lies. It's not just having depth, it’s having some quality of depth.”
Following his first Grapefruit League start, Kim mentioned that he was fighting for a faster velocity than the 87.9 mph he averaged on fastballs, something he improved upon marginally the next time out. The Cardinals do not believe the back and velocity issues are related.
Kim, 32, signed a two-year, $8 million contract before the 2020 season following 12 years playing in South Korea. He burst onto the scene last year as a rookie, nailing down a save in his debut before converting to a starter and not looking back, for a 1.62 ERA for the season.
Big step is next for Hicks
When one pitcher goes down, another returns. Jordan Hicks is penciled in to make his long-awaited return to an officially scored game when the Cardinals play the Mets on Sunday, Shildt said.
Hicks, who opted out of the 2020 season as a high-risk individual (Type 1 diabetes) after undergoing Tommy John surgery in June ’19, has taken part in a “B” game -- where he was said to be dynamite -- and faced live hitters a handful of times this spring.
The flame-throwing righty will get one inning against New York, as the Cardinals weigh whether to throw him back into the closer role by the start of the regular season or give him lower-leverage innings to get situated in game action.
Club agrees to terms with 24 players
The Cards announced Saturday that they have agreed to one-year deals for 2021 with all 24 of their players with between zero and three years of service time. This comes on the heels of right-hander Flaherty having his salary renewed -- meaning it was imposed by the team because he did not accept their proposed figure -- each of the past two seasons.
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March 14, 2021 at 09:15AM
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