Fernando Salas has once again been recalled to the big leagues. Salas is one of the better Cardinals pitching prospects and has been a fan favorite so far, at the very least here at VEB. In the ten games he's appeared in in '10, Salas has accrued a 2.31 ERA in 11 and 2/3 innings pitched. Not much to go on, but that has been a good result, no? Some peripherals to round out the picture: 1.114 WHIP, 180 ERA+, 7 K/9, 2.25 K/BB ratio could use some improvement though. Granted, 11 or 12 innings is hardly anything to go on, but so far so good. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/salasfe01.shtml

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In the non-major baseball leagues, Salas has been quite an asset to the bullpen. In 2008 he pitched 74 innings in AA, and put up some very impressive results: 3.34 FIP, 12.16 K/9, and 25 saves despite a .328 BABIP against. In AAA he pitched 27 innings (2009 he played on several levels of minor league teams) with only a 1.19 walks plus hits per innings pitched. I think one of his strengths is he has always had a low WHIP. He was staunch against giving up hits: .224 batting average against him in AAA '09. If he keeps his walks down, he could already be pitching for the major league squad most likely. It just sucks that it took Motte getting hurt to have him on the team again. My wild prediction is that he sticks on the team this time. Does anyone know his 2010 minor league performance? http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=paX07514&position=P