St. Louis Cardinals: Checking in on Giovanny Gallegos

The St. Louis Cardinals acquired Giovanny Gallegos from the New York Yankees at the trade deadline.

When the St. Louis Cardinals sent Luke Voit to New York, they got a pair of pitchers. Chasen Shreve has been a good arm out of the bullpen in Busch, and Giovanny Gallegos has been pitching with Memphis.

Since the trade, Gallegos has had a ton of success. He is the number 23 prospect in the Cardinals organization.

Memphis Performance

Thus far, it is a small sample size, just 10 innings. However, he has yet to give up a run in a Redbirds uniform. It’s been eight games, where Gallegos has recorded a save and eight strikeouts as well.

The one number that is lagging behind his usual is K/9, but it has only been 10 innings. Opposing batters are hitting under .200 against him so far in his Cardinal career.

Projections

Gallegos projects as a seventh inning arm. However, he could peak even higher than that. He relies on a two pitch mix to be successful. According to MLB Pipeline he has a plus fastball and a plus breaking ball. He will need to develop his changeup a little more to get that third pitch, but out of the bullpen he can succeed with two.

The issue with Gallegos is that he is recently turned 27 years old. If the St. Louis Cardinals want to get some decent usage out of him they will want to bring him up by next year. The good news is that he is pitching well. Even with the Yankees farm system he posted a sub two FIP.

As far as MLB time, Gallegos has 30 innings in 20 games. He’s averaged a tick under 9.5 K/9, and a 2.37 BB/9.

It has been a slow climb for the new St. Louis Cardinals arm, but he has been making it. We could see him in September, and will likely see him next season. Overall, he is a decent arm and should turn out to be a solid acquisition.