The St. Louis Cardinals have been in need of some extra pitching depth for quite some time after the departure of Jose Quintana.
On Friday, they added a piece to their mix, signing veteran left-hander Andrew Suarez to a minor league contract and extending an invitation to Major League spring training.
Suarez pitched the first three seasons of his MLB career with the San Francisco Giants.
From 2018-2020, the 31-year-old went 7-15 with a 4.66 ERA in 56 appearances and 31 starts.
On Twitter, the Cardinals announced the news of their latest signing and revealed that the left-hander will wear No. 31 when he arrives at spring camp.
We have signed LHP Andrew Suárez to a minor league contract for 2023 with a non-roster invite to Spring Training.
Suárez, 30, pitched in 56 games with San Francisco from 2018-20 and was named a KBO (Korea) All-Star in 2021. He has been assigned uniform no. 31. pic.twitter.com/OokEPsYjwG
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) January 27, 2023
While his stats with the Giants weren’t terribly impressive, he is coming off of two solid seasons in the KBO.
In 2021, Suarez was an All-Star, going 10-2 and posting a 2.18 ERA in 23 appearances and 22 starts.
Last season, he took a slight step back, posting a 4.09 ERA in 21 appearances.
But if he can regain his 2021 form, this could be a solid pickup for the Cardinals.
The team was largely absent from the starting pitcher’s market this offseason, instead choosing to look into the bullpen market and search for potential veteran swingman options.
Given his background in starting, Suarez could potentially fill the swingman role for the Cardinals in 2023, if he makes the team out of spring training.
If there is one thing the Cardinals have done well over the past several years, it’s been finding hidden gems from overseas.
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