St Louis Cardinals Rumors: Team looking into RHP Brad Peacock

The St Louis Cardinals need help on the pitching side of things and they are looking all over. One name they are after could be Brad Peacock.

The St Louis Cardinals are looking for pitching depth, expressing interest in right-hander Shelby Miller, and they should not stop there. In fact, there is a prime candidate nearing a return who could contribute meaningful innings come later in the season.

Free-agent right-handed pitcher Brad Peacock, who is coming off arthroscopic shoulder surgery in October, is throwing a showcase for teams on Friday at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl., as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Peacock, 33, has a 4.21 ERA in 933 career innings. He has fared much better against right-handed hitters (.196 opponents batting average) than against left-handed hitters (.266), though he has only pitched 94 innings since 2019. His most recent statline, which came in three appearances in 2020, featured a 7.71 ERA in 2.1 innings, though his 3.19 FIP painted a different picture.

Still, the Cardinals would be wise to look at Peacock in a similar way to Miller. The team could start Peacock in the low minors and build him up, either as a starter or reliever, and get him ready to pitch later in the regular season or even in October. There is a risk in doing that, of course, since he has an extensive injury history and hasn’t pitched much in recent seasons.

But Peacock offers more upside than Miller or any of the other free-agent relievers, including right-hander Homer Bailey. And it’s not like Peacock will be expensive, either, and could be the kind of low cost acquisition that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak will look to make before the July 30 trade deadline.

Signing Peacock would maintain the organization’s financial flexibility and allow them to explore other moves, perhaps more pitching or another bat to aid an underperforming offense. But while he is not a household name, Peacock would be a smart low-risk acquisition who could potentially pay dividends when the team would need him most.