The St. Louis Cardinals purchased the contract of left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales from Double-A Springfield, the team announced Wednesday.
Gonzales was scheduled to start for St. Louis Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies in Denver.
Gonzales grew up in Fort Collins, Colo., about one hour away from Denver. The Rockies are flying in Gonzales’ father, Frank, who is the pitching coach at their short-season Class A Tri-City affiliate in Pasco, Wash., in the Northwest League.
To make room for Gonzales on the 40-man roster, the team transferred right-handed pitcher Joe Kelly (left hamstring strain) to the 60-day disabled list and designated shortstop Pete Kozma for assignment.
Gonzales, 22, was drafted in the first round (19th pick overall) of the June 2013 first-year player draft by St. Louis. He joins Michael Wacha (2013) and Cris Carpenter (1988) as the most recent Cardinals pitchers to graduate to the majors in the year immediately following their draft selection.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Gonzales started 2014 at Class A Palm Beach and made six starts before a promotion to Springfield. At Double-A he posted a 3-2 record with a 2.33 ERA in seven starts, striking out 46 in his 38 2/3 innings. Between Springfield and Palm Beach, he was 5-4 with a 1.89 ERA over 13 starts over 76 1/3 innings with 78 strikeouts.
Kelly was closing in on a return from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for more than two months. He is slated to make his first rehab start for Triple-A Memphis on Friday.
Kozma’s move came just two days after he had been promoted from Triple-A Memphis.