Cardinals' Reyes has season-ending surgery

After a much-anticipated return from Tommy John surgery, Alex Reyes lasted four Major League innings before suffering another injury-related setback.
The Cardinals' No. 1 prospect underwent surgery Wednesday to reattach a tendon in his right lat and will miss approximately six months, including the remainder of the 2018 season.

"Recovery time for a surgery like this is six months before he's back on a mound," St. Louis general manager Michael Girsch told MLB.com. "We've been told by doctors they expect him to be fully recovered. ... We don't know how this progressed. No one knows quite how this progressed. It's hard to speculate when along the path it became a significant issue."
Reyes' 2017 campaign ended before it started after it was announced he had a full tear of his right ulnar collateral ligament and needed Tommy John surgery. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound right-hander made it back to mound this May and dazzled over four starts in the Minors, striking out 44 and walking seven over 23 scoreless innings and setting a Pacific Coast League record in the process.

That success carried over to his limited time on the mound in St. Louis, as he tossed four scoreless frames against the Brewers at Miller Park before being removed after 73 pitches when his velocity dipped. He was subsequently placed on the disabled list with a "significant" lat strain.
"It was a couple pitches. We watch guys do that all the time on purpose," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of the fluctuation in Reyes' velocity. "It was a chance to go ask him if everything was all right.
"We are constantly reinforcing the importance of [our players] being honest with us. There is nothing our medical team can do if they aren't giving us honest answers. This isn't some great revelation of how important it is. It's always being preached. If they don't give us all the information, their odds of coming back and staying healthy aren't going to be as high."
Before going under the knife in early 2017, Reyes was poised to join the St. Louis rotation after striking out 93 batters in 65 1/3 innings at Triple-A Memphis.