NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If the qualities of the Cardinals' selection in the annual Rule 5 Draft sound familiar, they should.
The Cardinals have a type this winter.
With the sixth pick in the draft due to their 91-loss season and last-place finish, the Cardinals nabbed right-handed reliever Ryan Fernandez off of Boston's Class AAA roster. Fernandez, 25, went 6-4 with a 4.14 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings spread over three levels. At Class AAA, he had a 6.16 ERA and more hits allowed (38) than strikeouts (35) but still had more strikeouts than innings pitched (30 2/3).
Fernandez has a tight, biting power slider that gives him the potential for more swings and misses, and that continues to be the style of pitcher the Cardinals want to add for depth and possibilities in the bullpen.
As with any Rule 5 selection, the Cardinals must keep Fernandez on the 26-man roster to gain control of his rights. This past season the Cardinals selected Wilking Rodriguez from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft, but because he spent most of the season on the injured list they were unable to gain his rights outright. He had to be passed through waivers, offered to 28 other teams, and then removed from the roster only for the Cardinals to re-sign him as a minor-league free agent for 2024.
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Both Rodriguez and Fernandez will have the opportunity in spring training to pitch their way into the Cardinals' relief plans.
The Cardinals did not have any players selected by other teams.
They did also pick three players in the minor-league portion of the draft:
• Johnfrank Salazar, INF, from Boston. In 59 games this past season in Boston's minors, the 20-year-old infielder batted .290 with a .350 on-base percentage and a .817 OPS.
• Miguel Villarroel, SS, from Texas. At 21, the Venezuelan infielder spent most of the season at Class A or lower, and he hit .231 with a .271 on-base percentage and a .599 OPS.
• Benito Garcia, RHP, from Mets. Reliever pitched at three different levels for the Mets, reaching Class AA, and he had a 5-3, 2.20 ERA season with two saves. The 23-year-old struck out 52 in 61 1/3 innings with a 0.90 WHIP.