Wednesday night’s start against the Philadelphia Phillies at Busch Stadium is not the first in the majors for Cardinals righthanded rookie Johan Oviedo. It is the first this year but the 6-foot-5. 255-pound righthander had five starts in 2020 when the Cardinals’ staff took on some injuries and Oviedo, then 22, was impressive though 0-3 with a 5.47 earned run average.
Opponents hit just .253 against Oviedo, who started three nightcaps of doubleheaders.
This season, Oviedo’s ERA is 0.00 as a result of a 4 2/3 scoreless inning stint against Milwaukee on April 11 before he was sent back to the alternate training site.