ST. LOUIS • Back in 2007, in the bright afterglow of his role in the Cardinals’ shocking 2006 World Series victory, Anthony Reyes sat in the team’s spring training clubhouse and told me all about the man who shaped him, and the bucket he needed to sit on.
Reyes’ father, Rick, flipped over a five-gallon bucket so that he could sit low enough to give his son a target that would satisfy the Cardinals’ wishes. The fireballer who has used a high fastball to win Game 1 of the World Series and that same elevated pitch to succeed as a top prospect in the minors, had to master the lower part of the zone to win a job.