Trade Central: Cardinals Acquire Jose Quintana From Pirates To Bolster Rotation

The Cardinals entered Monday one game back of a wild card spot and three games behind the Brewers for first place in the National League Central. Before the day ended, they made a move to bolster their rotation for the stretch run.

The Cardinals acquired lefthanded starter Jose Quintana and righthanded reliever Chris Stratton from the Pirates in exchange for righthander Johan Oviedo and prospect third baseman Malcom Nunez. With Jack Flaherty on the injured list dealing with shoulder issues and Steven Matz tearing his MCL trying to field a chopper in his last start, the Cardinals were down to just four healthy starters in Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson and rookie Andre Pallante. Quintana gives them a needed healthy fifth starter, and one who has had success in the NL Central this year as a bonus.

PIRATES ACQUIRE

Johan Oviedo, RHP
Age: 24

The 6-foot-5 Oviedo has long oozed potential and began to fulfill it with a move to the bullpen for the Cardinals this year, posting a 3.20 ERA in 14 appearances with 26 strikeouts and seven walks in 25.1 innings. Oviedo’s fastball sits in the mid 90s and his mid-80s slider is his primary swing-and-miss pitch. Oviedo has long struggled with command on account of his long limbs and tends to leave his fastball over the heart of the plate, leading to lots of hard contact against it. Even so, he has enough power to get away with mistakes at times and should be able to settle in as a hard-throwing reliever regardless. He’s major league-ready now and should slot immediately into the Pirates bullpen. He has never thrown enough strikes to be consistently effective as a starter, but he’s still young enough the Pirates could try to put him back in the rotation if they wanted to give it a shot.

Malcom Nuñez, 1B
Age: 21

The Cardinals No. 13 prospect, Nuñez originally signed with the organization out of Cuba and made a splash when he won the DSL Triple Crown in his pro debut, but he hasn’t quite replicated that all-around offensive performance since moving stateside. He’s still been a consistent power threat and hit .255/.360/.463 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs in 85 games at Double-A Springfield this year. Nuñez’s fast bat speed and plus power produce some of the loudest contact of any player on the field. He hits titanic home runs when he gets his pitch and has good instincts in the batter’s box that help him keep his strikeouts low for a power hitter. Even if he’s a below-average hitter, his power and on-base skills should help him earn big league at-bats. Nuñez is a thick, mature-bodied player and is a bottom-of-the-scale runner. He made the long-anticipated move from third base to first base this year and will be limited to 1B/DH duty moving forward. Nuñez’s value is completely tied to his bat, but his power and advanced instincts in the box for his age give him a chance.

CARDINALS ACQUIRE

Jose Quintana, LHP
Age: 33

Signed to a one-year deal in the offseason, Quintana bounced back in a big way with the Pirates after having his worst season a year ago. The veteran lefthander posted a 3.50 ERA in 20 starts, his lowest ERA since his all-star season in 2016. Quintana’s low-90s fastball and upper-70s curveball are still his best pitches, but he increased his changeup usage this year to do a better job of keeping hitters off balance. While his changeup on its own is not a particularly effective pitch, it’s gotten hitters off of his fastball and curveball much better than a year ago. He throws strikes, keeps the ball on the ground and goes twice through the order before giving way to his bullpen. He’ll slot into the Cardinals rotation as a solid back-end starter and stands to benefit from being a groundball pitcher with one of baseball’s best infield defenses playing behind him.

Chris Stratton, RHP
Age: 31

Stratton has struggled to a 5.09 ERA this year, but he’s been effective against righthanded hitters (.263/.318/.384). He primarily induces ground balls with a low-90s fastball and low-80s curveball and avoids self-induced mistakes like walks, hit by pitches and wild pitches. Stratton is extremely vulnerable against lefthanded hitters (.375/.414/.578) and needs to be used situationally to avoid them as much as possible, but he should be a useful option against righthanded batters down the stretch for the Cardinals.