4 surprising players who are off to strong starts for the St. Louis Cardinals

Right-handed reliever Kyle Leahy

A 17th-round draft pick in the 2018 draft, Kyle Leahy made his debut in 2023 for the Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs. Leahy returned in 2024 for 33 appearances (48.2 innings), and he posted a 4.07 ERA with only 33 strikeouts. He filled a comfortable role of being a long reliever out of the bullpen who could fill in should a starter be pulled early.

This spring, Leahy was in a battle for one of the final relief spots with Gordon Graceffo, Roddery Munoz, Riley O'Brien, and Chris Roycroft. Thanks to a strong spring, Leahy made the major-league roster once camp broke.

Leahy didn't allow a single run in 11 innings in spring, and he struck out 13 batters. His 0.727 WHIP was strong, and he walked just one batter. Kyle Leahy earned a spot out of spring due to a great showing.

The 28-year-old reliever has been able to continue his strong performances into the regular season. Leahy has appeared only six times through the club's first 12 games, and he's thrown 7.2 innings. Leahy has allowed only one run this year, and it came against the Minnesota Twins in the club's opening series. He has struck out 10 batters, a significant improvement on his first two years in the majors.

Manager Oli Marmol initially used Leahy as a long reliever in medium-leverage situations this year, but Leahy appearing in the 8th inning against the Pirates on Wednesday in a tie game speaks highly of the manager's belief in his reliever. Leahy pitched one inning, struck out two batters, walked one, and lowered his season ERA to 1.17. This is an indication of Marmol's belief in Kyle Leahy.

As a minor leaguer, Leahy's ERA was 5.51, so to see him have this much success is a bit surprising. He's found this success thanks to a slider that averages nearly 90 MPH with 3.8 inches of induced vertical break and 5.2 inches of glove-side movement. Batters are also whiffing at 30.8% of his sweepers.

With the early struggles of relievers like Ryan Fernandez, Chris Roycroft, and JoJo Romero, it's important that another pitcher steps up. Kyle Leahy appears primed to take on a higher leverage role.