This story was originally published by Dead Spin
After a rocky debut for the St. Louis Cardinals, right-hander Erick Fedde will look to rebound during his first start at home for his new team.
Fedde (7-5, 3.34 ERA) will get the call for the Cardinals on Wednesday night in the middle contest of a three-game series with the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.
Victor Scott II and Tommy Pham each belted a two-run homer in St. Louis’ 4-3 win in the series opener on Tuesday. Brandon Lowe had a two-run shot for Tampa Bay.
After arriving from the Chicago White Sox in a deal ahead of the trade deadline, Fedde suffered a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs last Friday. He allowed five runs on six hits — including two homers — in five innings.
“I think I let the moment get a little big and let things speed up rather than being calm and collected,” Fedde said. “I started throwing pitches too quickly and paid for it. Mistakes I can’t make again. You know what they say about first impressions. I wanted it to be a special one. Didn’t have that. Just got to move on to the next work and start working.”
While rushing his delivery, Fedde repeatedly missed his desired pitch location.
“Honestly, just had terrible command,” Fedde said. “I was missing a ton arm side, up in the zone. Just brought me to long ABs where I couldn’t put people away.”
Earlier this season, Fedde earned a 4-2 victory over the Rays while pitching for the White Sox. He allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out nine in 8 1/3 innings in his only career start against Tampa Bay.
The Rays will counter on Wednesday with right-hander Taj Bradley (6-5, 2.71 ERA), the American League Pitcher of the Month for July. He went 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA in five starts last month.
Bradley limited opponents to just eight hits over 20 scoreless innings during his recent three-game win streak. He struggled in his most recent start, however, allowing four runs on four hits — including two homers — during a 6-2 loss to the Miami Marlins on July 31.
This will be Bradley’s first career outing against the Cardinals.
As part of their makeover ahead of the trade deadline, the Rays acquired outfielder Dylan Carlson from the Cardinals. Carlson quickly got his chance to visit his old team.
“How ironic,” Carlson told MLB.com. “Yeah, it’s pretty funny how baseball works.”
In his second game for the Rays, Carlson belted his first homer of the season. He had a .515 OPS with no homers in 121 at-bats for St. Louis this season.
Carlson hopes his trade provides a fresh start for his career.
“Overall, I mean, (I’m) 25 years old. I feel like I’ve got a lot of baseball ahead of me,” he said. “I feel like I’m in a really good spot here with this organization, and I just think it’s a good match.”
Also looking to see familiar faces is Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks, who grew up in the St. Louis area and pitched at Busch Stadium in high school and while at the University of Missouri.
“I’m pretty excited,” Fairbanks told MLB.com. “Should be a pretty good turnout for a lot of people. I played there in high school. I played there in college. And now, hopefully, get an inning there in the big leagues.”
–Field Level Media
