Curacao born Juan Carlos Sulbaran comes off his best Spring Training ever. In three game appearances, Sulbaran retired three of the twelve batters he faced during his tenure at the MLB Spring Training Camp. This resulted in a spot in the rotation of the Memphis Redbirds, the Cardinals’ AAA farm team.
The 26-year old signed with the Cardinals in the off season after he spent the past three seasons with the Cards’ cross state rival Kansas City. In the Royals organization, Juan Carlos spent the last weeks of the 2015 seasson with the AAA Omaha StormChasers. At the AAA level he appeared in eight games and posted a 3-3 record with a 6.17 ERA.
In his last outing at MLB camp, Juan Carlos needed only thirteen pitches to cruise through two innings. After this outing he was sent downright to AAA camp to prepare himself for the upcoming season with the Redbirds. But in the three outings he did not allow any run.
So far Sulbaran has shown great command of the four pitches in his arsenal. He can throw a fastball, a curve, a change up and a sinker. After he stopped throwing a sinker because he was bothered by blisters, he has picked up the pitch again as he can throw a mean sinker ball that results in ground outs.
Some say he is MLB ready, so perhaps if one of the Cards’ starters will get injured, he may get a call up. Or otherwise as a reliever.
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