Cardinals' Daniel Poncedeleon: Earns rotation spot

Poncedeleon will start Tuesday against the Dodgers, taking Luke Weaver's spot in the Cardinals' rotation, Rob Rains of StLSportsPage.com reports.

Poncedeleon has thrown 17.2 innings for the Cardinals this season, starting one game and appearing five times in relief. His 2.04 ERA as well as his 2.15 ERA with Triple-A Memphis suggest he deserves the chance to start, though his underlying numbers at the major-league level aren't nearly as pretty. He's struck out too few batters (15.2 percent), walked too many (13.6 percent) and hasn't generated many groundballs (31.9 percent). His low ERA seems to be primarily a product of his unsustainable .133 BABIP and 91.6 percent strand rate, and his 5.03 FIP may be more reflective of his ability.