Cardinals Place Young Fireballer On Injured List, Call Up Struggling Rookie

St. Louis continues to battle injuries

Scott Neville | Aug 27, 2023

Cardinals Place Young Fireballer On Injured List, Call Up Struggling Rookie /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are limping to the finish line as injuries continue to mount for the club with 32 games remaining on the disappointing 2023 season.

The one advantage St. Louis has at the moment is the ability to get younger guys reps at the big-league level. Now, one inexperienced right-hander will have to sit out for a while.

"Right-handed pitcher James Naile has been recalled from Triple-A Memphis, the club announced. "Right-handed pitcher Guillermo Zuñiga (right forearm strain) has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 25."

Zuñiga has all the physical tools to be a high-leverage reliever -- and has shown flashes but his season has been a disaster.

The 24-year-old started his 2023 campaign pitching for Columbia in the World Baseball Classic -- where he struck out Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout, then struck out Paul Goldschmidt and ended his outing getting Nolan Arenado to produce a weak ground out to first base.

Since then, it's been downhill. Zuñiga has a 7.63 ERA with a 37-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .262 batting average against and 1.70 WHIP in 30 2/3 innings for Triple-A Memphis. He's allowed one run in two innings for the Cardinals thus far.

With Zuñiga unable to continue his development, Naile will provide some bullpen depth. The 30-year-old rookie was 5-1 with a 2.77 ERA, 54-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .244 batting average against and 1.19 WHIP in 48 2/3 innings for Triple-A Memphis. He has a 7.83 ERA in 23 innings for St. Louis dating back to last season.

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Published Aug 27, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu