Junior Fernández #73

Played his sophomore year (2011-12) of high school baseball at Miami's Felix Varela High School...Resides in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

2020

Was on the Opening Day (30-man) roster for the first time in his career...Made three appearances, twice against Pittsburgh and once against Cleveland...Allowed career-highs in runs (6), earned runs (6) and hits (6) in one inning pitched vs. CLE (8/28) as the Cardinals lost 14-2...Pitched scoreless innings both against Pittsburgh (7/26 & 9/17).

POSTSEASON: Was not selected for the postseason roster, but traveled with the team to San Diego for the Wild Card Series.

2019

Was purchased from Memphis (AAA) on August 6 and recalled for the rest of the season on 9/1...Made his MLB debut (7th Cardinal in 2019) vs. PIT on 8/11 and allowed two runs in 2/3 of an inning with two strikeouts...Led all Cardinals minor league pitchers with 11 saves...Began the season on the roster of the Palm Beach Cardinals (A) of the Florida State League, making stops in Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA)...Appeared in 13 games (10 scoreless)...Took 1st career loss at ARI (9/25), suffering his 3rd blown save & 2nd in as many games...Rookie suffered blown save on 9/15, allowing Ryan Braun grand slam in the 9th. Prior to that, had not allowed a home run all season in the Majors or Minors...Posted positive reverse split holding left-handed batters to a .100 BA (1-10) without an extra-base hit and right-handers to a .235 (8-34) with 2 HR...Pitched on consecutive days three times with two situations resulting in blown save opportunities...Optioned to Memphis on 8/22 and was recalled 8/31 as a September call-up. Threw 1.1 innings in Game 2 vs. CIN (9/1), retiring the side in his first inning before walking two and hitting a batter in his 2nd inning of work...Went 0-1 with a 1.54 ERA in nine games with Palm Beach, 1-1, 1.55 ERA in 18 games with Springfield and 2-1, 1.48 ERA in 18 games with Memphis. Pitched 65.0 innings and struck out 80 in the minors without allowing a HR...Participated in early workouts and seminars as part of the Cardinals Spring Training Early Program (S.T.E.P.)...Following the season, rated as having the "Best Changeup" in the FSL in Baseball America's "Best Tools" survey.

2018

Appeared in 24 games as a relief pitcher after starting 52 of his previous 60 professional games from 2014-17...Allowed only one home run to 95 total batters faced...Entered as the No. 20 prospect and having the "Best Changeup" in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America.

2017

Pitched two-thirds of a scoreless inning with a strikeout in the Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star Game...Two-time Florida State League Pitcher of the Week (April 17-23 & May 8-14).

2016

Entered the season rated as the No. 9 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America...Ranked T8th among Cardinals minor league pitchers with eight wins...Struck out a career-high 10 batters over 8.0 innings vs. Wisconsin (4/23).

2015

Did not allow a home run to 247 total batters faced, ranking him 2nd among Cardinals minor league pitchers in Toughest to Homer Off.

2014

Three of his six starts went 6.0 innings, all quality starts, with only one earned run allowed.