After covering the gaps in the rotation, the St. Louis Cardinals are now concentrating on strengthening their bullpen.
The Cardinals could use some much-needed depth and are looking to add a high-leverage pitcher or two.
The Cardinals are looking abroad for opportunities to locate weapons for their bullpen in the upcoming season because of how competitive the pitching market is this year.
“The (Cardinals) have discussed both Go (Woo-suk) and (Yuki) Matsui, who are both relievers from the international free agent market,” Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said on Tuesday.
In 2023, Matsui pitched for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and finished with a 2-3 record, 1.57 ERA, 72-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 39 saves, and 0.89 WHIP in 57 1/3 innings.
The Japanese pitcher who is left-handed would be a fantastic asset to the bullpen and might be useful towards the end of the game. It would be crucial to be able to change pitchers to right-hander Ryan Helsley from Matsui to finish the game.
Woo-suk pitch ed 44 innings for the LG Twins last season, recording a 3-8 record with a 3.68 ERA, 59-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 1.36 WHIP.
The 25-year-old Korean pitcher would provide St. Louis’ bullpen some much-needed depth. Woo-suk has shown promise and could eventually provide the Cardinals valuable innings even with his mediocre stat sheet.
Matsui and Woo-suk’s signings might be economical ways to bolster the bullpen and free up money for the Cardinals to pursue a more costly, high-leverage arm available.
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