JoJo

Romero

Uribe was diagnosed with a flexor strain on August 14th, so he has not been sidelined for long at all. Romero had an emergency appendectomy in the middle of July, so he might need a bit longer to ramp back up. However, both of them figure to be key pieces of the Brewers’ bullpen by the end of the season.

Romero completed a bullpen session earlier this week and should be ready for minor league game action next week. The 29-year-old has been on the shelf with appendicitis sine mid-July. He came over from the division-rival Cardinals in the Dustin May deal at the trade deadline last week.

Romero is on the shelf after having his appendix removed last month, but he could be back in a couple of weeks. The reliable lefty setup man has a 3.35 ERA in 43 innings this year and has come in at 2.87 in 163 innings since the start of 2024. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale are going to St. Louis, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. May could replace Robert Gasser in the Brewers rotation or the team could shift back to a six-man setup for now. Romero will take some pressure off Aaron Ashby in relief once he comes off the IL.

No word yet from the Cardinals on how long they anticipate Romero being shelved for. Scott Blewett was promoted from Triple-A Memphis to take his spot in the Cardinals’ bullpen while Yohel Pozo was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Soriano received his opportunity with both Riley O’Brien, JoJo Romero and Ryne Stanek presumably unavailable for workload reasons after each of them threw over 30 pitches during a two-game span over the weekend. The 27-year-old righty was charged with preserving a two-run lead and managed to work around a two-out single by Nick Gonzales to slam the door.

The Cardinals indicated that part of the reason O’Brien opened up in a setup role was that he was behind after his calf injury this spring. The results didn’t really agree with that assessment, but all seems right now anyway. The Cardinals used Ryne Stanek in the seventh and Jojo Romero in the eighth tonight, so they were clearly intending for O’Brien to close. He’s probably not a lock to record all of the team’s save chances, but he is the best bet in their pen and should be picked up wherever he’s available.

After Riley O’Brien and Jojo Romero worked scoreless seventh and eighth innings, respectively, Stanek was expected to get the ninth. However, the Cardinals expanded their lead from two runs to four in the bottom of the eighth, causing the team to sit him down and get up Svanson. Svanson went on to allow a single, a walk and another single while getting two outs. Stanek took over then and gave up hits to Carson Williams and Nick Fortes to tie the game before retiring Ben Williamson to finish the inning. For the optimist, it’s good that Stanek was the Cardinals’ preferred closer for the second straight game, and the blown save was more about Svanson’s performance than Stanek’s. Still, Stanek is probably the Cardinals’ third-best reliever at best — he posted a 5.09 ERA the last two years — and it’s not like he has a history of closing that somehow should provide him with an edge here. Probably half the reason he was the first choice in the ninth is because the Cardinals hope it will get them a better prospect in return when they try to move him in July.

Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom told reporters the deal is now official. The hard-throwing 34-year-old middle reliever fortifies St. Louis’ bullpen after recording an underwhelming 5.30 ERA — 4.40 FIP — 1.57 WHIP and 58/32 K/BB ratio across 56 innings for the Mets last year. He’s been a durable innings-eater, making 55 appearances or more in each of the past five seasons, and has some experience in high-leverage spots. He isn’t a threat to close with the Cardinals but it wouldn’t be shocking if he wound up vulturing the occasional save from Riley O’Brien or JoJo Romero.

Romero gets a $1.9 million raise while coming off his best season; he had a 2.07 ERA in a career-high 61 innings for the Cardinals. This is his final year before free agency, so he’s a trade candidate on a rebuilding club.