Josh

James

James, 31, was once among the most intriguing young right-handed pitchers in the sport, but injuries and inconsistent performance when healthy have derailed his career. Prior to his release, he posted a 19.26 ERA over 7 2/3 innings with 15 walks against five strikeouts. He’s now free to find a new team.

James didn’t pitch last year after being non-tendered by the Astros following flexor tendon surgery. There are some real durability concerns, but the hard-throwing 30-year-old righty misses a ton of bats and represents an interesting low-risk lottery ticket for the Cardinals. It’ll be interesting to see how he looks in a few weeks during Grapefruit League action.

He’s the team’s lone non-tender. Mauricio Dubón was the only other arbitration-eligible player probably considered for a non-tender, but since he’s not going to make much more than $1 million, he sticks around for now. James looked like a big-time talent upon arriving in 2018, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy since. He underwent flexor tendon surgery on Oct. 1, so he’s not going to available at the beginning of next year, either.

The Astros haven’t provided a timetable for his potential return and it sounds like James is going to wind up requiring a lengthy absence. The 29-year-old righty wound up missing the entire 2022 campaign due to injury. He was pulled off a recent minor league rehab assignment due to right forearm discomfort, which wound up leading to surgery. There’s a decent chance he’s non-tendered this offseason.

James had seemingly been close to a possible return from a lat injury but now has a new ailment to deal with. It’s not known at this point how serious of a setback it is, but it’s difficult to see him making it back this season now.

James has made a pair of scoreless relief appearances recently for Single-A Fayetteville and will likely be an option for the Astros at some point in the next few weeks, if not sooner. The hard-throwing 29-year-old righty hasn’t made an appearance in the majors this season and has been on the 60-day injured list since late June due to a right lat strain.

James has not made an appearance in 2022, and has been awful in Triple-A with a 7.59 ERA over 23 reliever appearances and a 22/17 K/BB ratio. The move opens up a spot on the 40-man roster for Taylor Jones, who was activated off the 60-day IL and optioned to Triple-A himself.

James had surrendered one earned run on three hits and a walk over two innings of relief this spring in Grapefruit League play. The oft-injured 29-year-old former top prospect seems poised to operate merely as organizational bullpen depth for Houston in 2022.

James will make just north of the new MLB minimum in his first year of arbitration eligibility. The 29-year-old former top prospect holds a career 4.64 ERA through four injury-marred seasons at the big league level.

Just one day after he was recalled from Triple-A, James is heading back there to make room for Michael Brantley on the active roster. He sports a 5.40 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 8/2 K/BB ratio across five innings with the Astros this season.