Junior Fernández #53

Fernández resides in Port St. Lucie, Fla., with his wife, Sharon...In 2020, he was featured in an article on MLB.com written by Anne Rogers, in which he spoke about working with eventual Hall of Famer Yadier Molina, his Cardinals teammate in 2019: “The way that Yadi approaches the game is amazing. He’s always concentrated, always trying to get me to be better, see what I do wrong while pitching, if I move my glove, all that. He’s always trying to help everybody. I can’t explain everything. Yadi is an amazing person, an amazing teammate.”

2024

Made two appearances for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan before suffering a season-ending injury to his right shoulder...Appeared in 20 games for the Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League, striking out 13 batters in 15.1 innings.

2023

Spent the majority of 2023 with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, pitching in 42 games and covering 49.0 innings before he was released on Aug. 22 and signed by Washington on Aug. 28...He reported to Triple-A Rochester and allowed three earned runs in 9.2 innings (2.79 ERA).

2022

Posted his highest career average four-seam fastball velocity at 98.8 MPH, surpassing the 97.7 MPH in 2021...Ranked in the 98th percentile in Major League Baseball... Began the season with Triple-A Memphis before being recalled by St. Louis on May 23... Tossed 2.0 scoreless innings on May 24 vs. TOR before being optioned back to Triple-A on May 26... Threw a career-high 12.1 scoreless innings from May 24-July 11 before being scored upon for the first time on July 12 vs. LAD... Claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh on Sept. 7 and optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis... Made six appearances with Indianapolis before being recalled by the Pirates on Oct. 1... Allowed one hit in three scoreless outings with Pittsburgh to end the season, all of which came against the Cardinals (3.1 IP, H, 4BB, 2K).

2021

Posted career-high totals in appearances (18) and innings pitched (20.2)...Was placed on the 10-day Injured List on September 3 with a torn right lat, causing him to miss the rest of the regular season and the postseason... Earned his first Major League victory vs. MIL (8/19), pitching two-thirds of an inning in relief of Jon Lester, as the Cardinals rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win, 8-4... Ranked 3rd on the Cardinals with 11 games finished trailing Alex Reyes (54) and Giovanny Gallegos (20)... Opposing batters swung at 42.7% of his first pitches, highest on the Cardinals...Threw a career-high 2.2 innings at CWS (5/25), which was the start of his longest scoreless streak of the season (6.2) all appearances of 2.0 innings or more... Made four appearances of 2.0 innings or more on the season, with all four scoreless. Induced five ground into double plays in 20.2 innings, the most of any National League pitcher to throw 21 innings or less and 2nd-most in MLB behind Zack Britton (NYY) who induced eight in 18.1 IP... His 2.18 GIDP/9 IP was 3rd-best of pitchers with 20 innings or more (T.J. McFarland, STL, 2.79 & Nick Neidert, MIA, 2.27)... Posted his highest average fastball velocity at 97.7 MPH, surpassing the 96.8 MPH in 2019; ranking in the 97th percentile in Major League Baseball... Made 13 appearances in Memphis (AAA) striking out 22 batters in 14.1 innings with a save.

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

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)

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).