An injury to St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia has opened up a spot in the team's rotation, which is, at least temporarily, going to be filled by 2009 third-round pick Joe Kelly. Kelly will make his major league debut on Sunday vs. the Cleveland Indians, and a win would give the Cardinals their second series victory in a row.
The 23-year-old Kelly was drafted out of UC Riverside in 2009, and has progressed through St. Louis' minor league system gradually without repeating any levels. He had a rough year in Double-A last season, posting a 5.01 ERA, but in Triple-A this year, he's managed to keep his ERA at 2.68. Kelly can get strikeouts, but he's also had problems with control throughout his pro career, and this year he's walked 21 batters in 72 innings.
Standing in the way of his first career victory is Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who is looking to for some consistency after a May in which he posted three quality starts but also gave up seven earned runs in two other starts. In is last outing this past Tuesday, he gave up one earned run in 6.2 innings vs. the Detroit Tigers.
Game date/time: Sunday, June 10, 1:15 p.m. CT
Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Mo.
TV: FSN Midwest
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more coverage of this series, head over to Cardinals blog Viva El Birdos and Indians blog Let's Go Tribe. For more general baseball coverage, head over to Baseball Nation.
An injury to St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia has opened up a spot in the team's rotation, which is, at least temporarily, going to be filled by 2009 third-round pick Joe Kelly. Kelly will make his major league debut on Sunday vs. the Cleveland Indians, and a win would give the Cardinals their second series victory in a row.
The 23-year-old Kelly was drafted out of UC Riverside in 2009, and has progressed through St. Louis' minor league system gradually without repeating any levels. He had a rough year in Double-A last season, posting a 5.01 ERA, but in Triple-A this year, he's managed to keep his ERA at 2.68. Kelly can get strikeouts, but he's also had problems with control throughout his pro career, and this year he's walked 21 batters in 72 innings.
Standing in the way of his first career victory is Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who is looking to for some consistency after a May in which he posted three quality starts but also gave up seven earned runs in two other starts. In is last outing this past Tuesday, he gave up one earned run in 6.2 innings vs. the Detroit Tigers.
Game date/time: Sunday, June 10, 1:15 p.m. CT
Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Mo.
TV: FSN Midwest
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more coverage of this series, head over to Cardinals blog Viva El Birdos and Indians blog Let's Go Tribe. For more general baseball coverage, head over to Baseball Nation.