John Gast

With an inflamed elbow and an amazing set of pitchers in the minor league system, now seems as good a time as ever to give Jake Westbrook a little break and promote one of the minor league system’s prized pitchers in John Gast.

Fans of John Gast? REJOICE!

Gast, a smooth move having lefty, will get the start for the Cardinals on Tuesday evening against the Mets.

Per Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch:

The Cardinals’ starting pitching, which had posted a major league best 2.11 earned run average, took its first hit this year when veteran righthander Jake Westbrook was placed on the 15-day disabled list this morning with right elbow inflammation.

Westbrook, 2-1 with a 1.62 earned run average, will be replaced on the roster by lefthander John Gast, who has been purchased from Class AAA Memphis to start Tuesday here against the New York Mets.

Westbrook gave up nine hits and three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings in his last start Wednesday in Chicago. Righthander Jason Motte, who had been on the 15-day disabled list but will be out for the season, will be moved to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Gast on the 40-man roster.

Gast, the Cardinals’ minor league player of the month for April, is 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA over six starts in Memphis. The sixth-round draft pick out of Florida State University in 2010 began the season with a 32-inning scoreless streak.

Here’s hoping for a good rest and speedy recovery for Jake … and an another amazing pitching performance by the Cardinals pitching staff for Gast!

Miranda Remaklus is a contributor to Aaron Miles’ Fastball and lead writer for Aerys Offsides in the NFL section. Follow her on Twitter @missmiranda.