The St. Louis Cardinals entered the trade deadline ready to sell off some of their pieces. As the team started to falter down the stretch, offseason signing Dustin May became one of the top names on their list to trade.
St. Louis found a dance partner in the rival Milwaukee Brewers, and together with May, the Cardinals sent Jojo Romero up north and hauled in a couple of prospects. Since the deal, May has a 6.41 ERA in five starts with his new squad.
Dayn Perry of CBS Sports called May a “deadline disappointment” for the Brewers.
Dustin May’s Disappointing Beginning In Milwaukee
A lot of weight was placed on May to be near-perfect in his rental season with the Brewers. Milwaukee had to deal two high-end prospects to get him for the remainder of the year.
With the Cardinals, May made 21 starts and posted a 4.38 ERA with an 8.8 K/9. Since the trade deadline, the right-hander has seen his ERA and K/9 drop, and he is averaging fewer than five innings per start.
His first two starts were quality, going six innings and seven innings, respectively. Since then, he has yet to go five innings in a start, one of which he came out after a comebacker squared him up on the first pitch of the game.
While it may be too early to tell, August was not particularly friendly to the former Cardinals starter.
St. Louis Cardinals’ Return Performing Well In Minors
The Cardinals acquired Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale from the Brewers at the deadline. Trading May was one of the Cardinals’ necessities to push toward the big-picture goal in the future.
Frias has taken a hit in some of his performance since making the jump to A-ball, but he has hit the ball as hard as 117 mph in the minor leagues. He is flashing that kind of power at 18 years old, with plenty of time to reach his potential. While he has not hit as well in Single-A as he did in Rookie Ball, Frias is flashing the kind of potential the Cardinals need.
The other outfielder St. Louis received, Ragsdale, is tearing up the Double-A level. A .284 batting average with five home runs since the trade. His slugging is down a bit since coming over to the Cardinals organization, but he has 24 total home runs in the minors this season and 36 stolen bases.
Ragsdale has been doing this while being a primary center fielder, a position that the Cardinals have a lot of questions about. Nathan Church has done a solid job at the big-league level, but he is not the franchise cornerstone the team is looking for at the position. Ragsdale could be that for St. Louis.
While St. Louis has run into some injuries with their pitching, it might have been nice to have May back with them. The future is the number one priority for president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, and the deal is looking like an early win for St. Louis.
Cardinals Dubbed Early Winners Of Deadline Deal With Rival