Lyons (back) was placed on the 10-day disabled list Friday.

EDGE Analysis

He is dealing with a mid-back strain. The move is retroactive to May 9. Lyons posted a 6.17 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings prior to suffering the injury. Brett Cecil was activated from the DL in a corresponding move.

Lyons earned the win after recording the final out in the top of the tenth inning Saturday against the Cubs.

EDGE Analysis

Lyons entered with two outs in the top of the tenth and the go-ahead run on second. He managed to get Victor Caratini to line out to third base and then picked up the win when Kolten Wong hit a walkoff homer in the bottom of the inning. Lyons has a 5.59 ERA with 11 strikeouts and four walks in 9.2 innings so far this season.

Lyons notched his seventh hold in a win over the Cubs on Friday, getting one out on two pitches.

EDGE Analysis

Lyons was brought on in a matchup-based capacity after Miles Mikolas had allowed a leadoff double to Kris Bryant to open the eighth. The southpaw served his purpose by retiring Anthony Rizzo on a flyout to right before being lifted. Lyons hadn't appeared since April 28 before Friday's abbreviated outing, but the lack of work hasn't necessarily been due to ineffectiveness. Factoring in Friday's line, Lyons has generated five scoreless efforts over the last six appearances.

Lyons notched his sixth hold in Friday's win over the Reds, allowing a hit and recording two strikeouts over 1.1 scoreless innings.

EDGE Analysis

The left-hander has now notched holds in four straight appearances, despite the fact he's given up two runs (one earned) over two of those outings. Lyons appears set for a heavy workload throughout the course of the season if April is any indication, as he's already made 10 trips to the mound during the month.

Lyons notched his fifth hold by recording one out in the eighth inning of a 5-3 win over the Cubs on Tuesday.

EDGE Analysis

Greg Holland failed to get anyone out while opening the eighth, necessitating Lyons' presence as a bridge to current closer Bud Norris, who ultimately recorded a five-out save. The 30-year-old southpaw now has holds in three straight appearances, although he'd given up an earned run apiece -- including his first home run of the season -- in the prior two.

Lyons was credited with his third hold in a 5-3 win over the Reds on Friday, allowing an earned run on one hit and one walk over two-thirds of an inning. He also recorded a strikeout.

EDGE Analysis

It wasn't easy, but the 30-year-old southpaw was able to escape a jam in the eighth with some help from bullpen mate Dominic Leone. Lyons dug himself a hole by walking the dangerous Billy Hamilton to start the frame, and he allowed a bloop single to Joey Votto two batters later that brought the speedster home after he'd been sacrificed to second by Jose Peraza. Lyons was able to then set Scooter Gennett down on a called third strike before giving way to Leone, who subsequently picked off Votto. The outing broke a four-appearance scoreless streak for Lyons, but he's now racked up eight strikeouts over 5.2 innings over his first eight appearances.

Lyons struck out the side in the eighth inning of Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Diamondbacks but also hit a batter.

EDGE Analysis

The lefty got 10 of his 14 pitches into the strike zone, with his only blemish a plunking of David Peralta. Lyons quickly worked around that mistake, however, generating his third scoreless effort over his first four appearances of the season in the process. The clean outing was a nice bounce-back performance for the 30-year-old, who'd allowed a pair of earned runs on three hits while only getting one out against the Brewers on Tuesday.

Lyons fired a scoreless inning in Monday's 8-4 win over the Brewers, allowing a hit and recording a strikeout.

EDGE Analysis

Likely out of the running for many save opportunities due to the signing of Greg Holland, Lyons instead will likely see plenty of eighth-inning work the likes of which he logged Monday. The hard-throwing lefty was locked in while getting 10 of his 12 pitches into the strike zone and has generated scoreless efforts in his first two appearances of 2018.

Lyons, who's generated a 3.24 ERA across 8.1 spring innings, is expected to split save opportunities with Dominic Leone to begin the regular season, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports. "We're going to have to be thinking our way through how the back-end works," manager Mike Matheny said. "It could be more matchup-based than anything else."

EDGE Analysis

Luke Gregerson's hamstring injury -- which will see him start the season on the disabled list -- opens the door for Lyons and Leone, the latter which has seen the bulk of the late-inning opportunities this spring. However, the 30-year-old Lyons has been effective in his own right, and he's coming off a 2017 campaign in which he posted a career-best 2.83 ERA and 68 strikeouts over 54.0 innings across 50 appearances. Matheny appears set to handle his closing situation on a night-to-night basis for now, with the matchup problems that Lyons poses for left-handed bats (.178 BAA allowed to 85 same-handed hitters last season) likely to play heavily into his decisions.

Lyons could figure into the ninth-inning mix for the Cardinals this season, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "It will define itself in time," manager Mike Matheny said of the closer role. "It's completely different this year, where we have a number of guys. Having a number of guys that could finish a game would be great."

EDGE Analysis

Luke Gregerson and Bud Norris are probably slightly ahead of him in the competition, but we are over a month away from Opening Day, so a lot can happen between now and then. Lyons notched a 2.83 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 68 strikeouts, three saves and four wins in 54 innings out of the bullpen last season, so he has a chance to provide value in deeper formats, even if he isn't tabbed as the official closer to start the season.