The Cardinals are finalizing a trade in their division with the Pirates for left-handed Jose Quintana and reliever Chris Stratton for Johan Oviedo and Malcom Nunez in return.
Jeff Passan on Twitter: “The St. Louis Cardinals are finalizing a deal to acquire left-hander Jose Quintana from the Pittsburgh Pirates, sources tell ESPN. / Twitter”
The St. Louis Cardinals are finalizing a deal to acquire left-hander Jose Quintana from the Pittsburgh Pirates, sources tell ESPN.
Quintana, 33, is a veteran of 11 Major League seasons, appearing with the White Sox (2012-17), Cubs (2017-20), Angels (2021), Giants (2021) and Pirates (2022).
The 6-1, 220-pound Colombia native owns a career mark of 86-85, 3.81 ERA in 303 games (277 starts) since debuting in 2012.
Quintana is 3-5 with a 3.50 ERA in his 20 starts for the Pirates this season, and ranks among N.L. pitching leaders in groundball pct. (45.6), WHIP (1.27) and fewest HR/9 IP (0.61). His 103.0 innings pitched currently rank 10th among N.L. lefties.
Quintana’s 2016 season led to an American League All-Star selection and 10th place finish in A.L. Cy Young voting after going 13-12 with a 3.20 ERA for the White Sox.
He is using his changeup more and fastball less than usual. His changeup has a 66.7% groundball rate and 25.4% whiff rate.
Minus the bad start in Colorado where he gave up 6 runs, his ERA would be 2.97.
Essentially replacing Matz, who might not return this season.
Kevin Wheeler on Twitter: “Good return for the Pirates. Oviedo has great stuff but command still a question. Nunez can hit but he’s blocked everywhere you look at 1B-3B in STL.Not a deal I’d lose sleep over. https://t.co/GnJdwnEihs / Twitter”
Good return for the Pirates. Oviedo has great stuff but command still a question. Nunez can hit but he’s blocked everywhere you look at 1B-3B in STL.Not a deal I’d lose sleep over. https://t.co/GnJdwnEihs
Stratton, 31, has appeared in 40 games for the Pirates this season, going 5-4 in his 40.2 innings or work with two saves. The 6-2, 200-pound Mississippi native has pitched in seven seasons with San Francisco (2016-18), Los Angeles Angels (2019) and Pirates (2020-22).
Chris Stratton went 7-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 68 appearances last season, striking out more than a batter per inning with 86 in 79 1/3 frames. He has had a tougher time this summer, going 5-4 with a 5.09 ERA in 40 games.
Stratton has a career mark of 30-23 with a 4.61 ERA and 11 saves in 218 games (42 starts).
