It was billed as just a 15 day disabled list trip to rest his forearm, and so it has been as the Cardinals announced today that they have activated Lance Lynn from the DL and optioned Tyler Lyons back to Memphis. Lynn will return to the mound tonight against the Miami Marlins.
“I’m just looking forward to competing again. I’ve been out for two weeks and you never want to not be able to compete. So I’m just looking forward to getting back out there,” Lynn told MLB.com about returning the mound. Lynn missed his last two starts after being placed on the disabled list with a right forearm strain.
Coming into the 2015 season, Lynn was veiwed as the team’s #2 starter behind Adam Wainwright. With Wainwright on the DL, that made Lynn the de facto ace and a guy they are depending on to throw a bulk of the innings out of the rotation this season. Losing him for longer than just a couple weeks would be costly for the Cardinals who are exceptionally thin right now after dealing with so many injuries, so hopefully this is the end of his forearm issues this year.
In his stead, Tyler Lyons was good enough, as the Cardinals won both of his starts. He went 2-0, throwing 5 innings in each start and allowing a total of 5 earned runs between them. It was a much better run than Lyons put together while trying to bridge the gap from Wainwright to Jaime Garcia earlier this season.
Lyons also put together some good games at the plate, going a combined 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and three runs scored. His hitting performance in his last start against the Phillies may be the best offensive performance from a Cardinals’ pitcher this season.
The Cardinals will need more performances like that from Lyons down the stretch. He looks to figure prominently in the plans to get extra rest for guys like Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha in the second half.
Jon Doble has been writing about the St. Louis Cardinals since 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @JonDoble and catch him hosting UCB Radio on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Redbird Dugout is a member of the United Cardinal Bloggers.