The St. Louis Cardinals’ horrid injury luck over the last two weeks has put them in an interesting kind of bind. Andre Pallante, Hunter Dobbins, and Peter Strzelecki all hit the injured list within a week of each other, leaving slim pickings for roster expansion call-ups. Yancen Pujols reported that Hancel Rincon is the beneficiary of the unfortunate circumstance as the Cardinals head west.
Who Is St. Louis Cardinals’ New Reliever Hancel Rincon?
Rincon has been in the Cardinals organization since 2019, when the Cardinals signed him out of his hometown of Los Llanos, Dominican Republic. The right-hander has spent the last eight years climbing through the ranks of minor league baseball.
Rincon has a 4.04 ERA in 41 appearances with Triple-A Memphis this year. He is much more effective against left-handed hitters than right-handers. Lefties have a .175 average against him and a .542 OPS; meanwhile, right-handers are hitting .278 with a .883 OPS.
Cardinal pitching has been pretty evenly split against both lefties and righties this season. Right-handed hitters have a .724 OPS against Cardinal pitching, and left-handers have a .725 OPS. St. Louis is thin in the market for left-handed relievers at the major league level and has used right-handers like George Soriano to supplement that deficit. Rincon could fill a similar role with his success versus left-handed batters.
Cardinals Injury Updates
With the expansion coming at the same time that the Cardinals are losing players to injury left and right, it is a much-needed reinforcement for the squad.
Pallante was placed on the injured list on Aug. 21, but it was retroactive to Aug. 18, allowing him to be eligible to return on Sep. 1 when the team takes on the Los Angeles Dodgers. MLB.com last reported that the St. Louis starter had thrown 50 pitches in live batting practice on Aug. 28. Michael McGreevy is the probable starter for Tuesday’s contest, which gives the Cardinals at least another day to decide on Pallante.
Dobbins and Strzelecki have also landed on the injured list and do not have a return date just yet. Dobbins had the scarier of the two injuries; right flexor strain is the official injury, and he is getting “another opinion” on Sep. 1.
All of this is coming at a time when the Cardinals need their depth; along with pitching injuries, the Cardinals have seen their starting infield disappear with Masyn Winn, JJ Wetherholt, and Blaze Jordan all needing time on the injured list at the end of the season. Winn is eligible to return on Sep. 1, and Wetherholt was placed on the 10-day list on Aug. 30.