Reyes allowed an earned run on two walks and a hit over one inning in the Cardinals' 2-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Phillies on Tuesday.
The final line wasn't pretty, but Richard Justice of MLB.com reports there were more positives than initially meet the eye. Reyes' fastball went as high as 98 mph, and he also threw a couple of particularly effective curveballs, with one of them ringing up Andrew Knapp looking. The Phillies were more pesky than powerful versus Reyes' stuff, as they strung together a groundball single and a sacrifice fly alongside a pair of walks to generate their one run against the young right-hander. It's a particularly important spring for the former top prospect in the organization, considering how he's already had two prior seasons cut short by injuries. Despite the uneven debut, Reyes did receive a vote of confidence from his boss as his quest for a roster spot officially begins. "I wasn't overly concerned with anything other than him feeling good and the ball coming out well," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "In that regard, we had wins across the board. Great first day for Alex."