Manager Mike Matheny likes to mine the pitching lines from the Cardinals’ minor-league affiliates for gems about the arms that can help now and the arms that are coming later. He looks through their pitch counts, their velocities, their strikeout totals, their walks, and the eyes-only reports from coaches, and while all of that information sings about Alex Reyes, Matheny has a feel for the righthander beyond the data.
He caught the kid and knows the thump of his fastball, personally.
“It’s different,” Matheny said, who grabbed a mask and a glove for the best squat in the house to see Reyes’ first bullpen throws of spring training.