Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha made his first relief appearance Wednesday against the Pirates, tossing two scoreless innings and striking out four.
"It sort of reminded me of what we saw last year during his rise up through the minor leagues and also what we saw in spring training," general manager John Mozeliak said, per MLB.com. "Very electric stuff, and hopefully we can tap into that in high-leverage spots now."
The Cardinals plan to ease Wacha into his new relief role before pitching him on consecutive days.
"We typically don't show our hand ahead of time, but he's not going to pitch [Thursday]," manager Mike Matheny said. "We'll take a look at him [on Friday]. I imagine it'll be how quick he bounces back, how he shows the trainers he is bouncing back, how he feels. … That's not in the real near future [throwing back-to-back days], but I don't think it's something we can rule out down the road."