The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Saturday that reliever Fernando Salas has been optioned to Triple-A Memphis to make room for recalled rookie pitcher Chuckie Fick. Fick will be in uniform for Saturday night's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, and he was an interesting candidate for the promotion as Dan Moore of SB Nation St. Louis notes:
Fick is a decidedly odd choice-drafted in the 15th round in 2007, he's floated his way up the minor league ladder without ever pitching especially well; always a little above-average, always with a strikeout rate low enough to alarm given the way his walk rate has trended up. 26 years old, he throws a sinker that comes up in the high 80s or low 90s and a slider, according to this 2008 interview on Future Redbirds. Also, if this is his Twitter account, he's a cat of some kind.
As for Salas, he stumbled out of the blocks this season after leading the team in saves last year. His 6.32 ERA over 15.2 innings in 2012 is far worse that what he produced in 2010 (3.52 ERA) and 2011 (2.28 ERA).
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