JUPITER, Fla. • An offspeed pitch attempted last week in New Jersey by a 22-year-old with one of the most promising arms in baseball instantly reshaped the Cardinals’ season days before it officially began.
Rookie Alex Reyes will miss the entire season after rupturing a ligament in his right elbow. Five days after Reyes felt pain spiral through his pitching arm, the Cardinals confirmed Wednesday the diagnosis they feared: Their young righthander will have Tommy John surgery as early as Thursday in Jupiter. His sudden and complete absence from this year’s rotation throws wide open a competition that will see two former All-Stars, a revitalized Michael Wacha or repurposed Trevor Rosenthal, make their claim to the fifth starter’s job.