After a year-and-a-half in the wilderness following elbow surgery you'd be forgiven for thinking Anthony Reyes, last seen making three middling rehab appearances for the rookie-level Cleveland Indians in 2011, had retired. As of Wednesday night the Memphis Redbirds will be happy to tell you that's not the case; Reyes, the St. Louis Cardinals' Game 1 starter in the 2006 World Series as a 24-year-old rookie, made his second relief appearance with the AAA Tucson Padres against the Cardinals' AAA affiliate, and if the stats are any indication he looked great. Striking out six batters in three one-hit innings, Reyes could apparently be nearing a return to the AAA rotation for San Diego.
↵That game recap about Reyes—now 30—is interesting for a few reasons. Among them: He's back over 90 mph with his fastball, which may or may not still be the sinker forced on him by Dave Duncan and Tony La Russa, and his best pitch was not his outstanding changeup, as swung through by several Detroit Tigers, but the curveball that always looked like a throwaway pitch during his days as the Cardinals' top prospect.
↵I wish all the best for Anthony Reyes in his comeback attempt, but my primary hope is this: That when he returns to the majors as a member of the Padres, he's still wearing high socks and a flat-billed baseball cap. The remarkably-inverted-W pitching motion I can take or leave.
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