5 Cardinals taking full advantage of their runway post trade deadline

St. Louis Cardinals fans went into this season knowing it would be another season of growth for the young club. John Mozeliak, outgoing president of baseball operations, promised several young players would get a "runway" to show the organization what they have and prove they deserve to be with the team long term.

Nolan Gorman has battled with bouts of time on the injured list once again this offseason. With Nolan Arenado rehabbing an ailing shoulder, Gorman's runway is getting tested. It will be fun to watch him prove what he has for the team that drafted him. Jordan Walker has been in the same boat with injuries and is doing his best to show growth in his game.

While Brendan Donovan, Ivan Herrera, and Alec Burleson secured their spots with the team earlier this season, players like Lars Nootbaar and Thomas Saggese are hoping to show off what they can bring to the team long term.

There is a group of players who recently showed off their worth to the team and have taken full advantage of the runway given. Let's discuss those players.

JoJo Romero

After the team traded off relievers Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz, and Phil Maton, Romero became the next man up to take on the higher-leverage relief situations for the Cardinals.

Over his last seven games, Romero is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA with three saves. He's pitched eight innings, given up three earned runs and four walks, and struck out seven batters. On Sunday night, he earned the save against the Cubs after going 1.1 innings, giving up three hits and a walk. He earned the win on August 6 against the Dodgers. He threw one inning of baseball, giving up a hit and striking out one batter.

He earned the loss in Wednesday's series finale with the Colorado Rockies. He pitched one inning, giving up two hits, a walk, and two earned runs while striking out three batters. He walked Kyle Karros and struck out Brenton Doyle before giving up a two-run homer to Hunter Goodman.

Since the deadline, Romero has proven to be a trustworthy arm out of the bullpen as long as he's in an ideal situation.

Michael McGreevy

Since his final start of the 2024 season, McGreevy has been the most patient member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He earned his spot on the Cardinals' roster but couldn't quite secure it due to a backlog of pitchers.

Once Erick Fedde was designated for assignment and picked up by the Atlanta Braves, McGreevy finally earned his official spot in the Cardinals' rotation. In his last seven games, he is 3-1 with an ERA of 4.81, throwing 39.1 innings, giving up six walks while striking out 18.

In his last start on Wednesday, he received a no-decision in the start against the Rockies. He pitched six innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs while striking out two batters.

McGreevy is 25 and has a lot of potential. He will be fun to watch grow with the organization.

Kyle Leahy

For two seasons, Leahy has traveled Interstate 55 from Memphis to St. Louis regularly. This season, he has put it together and is a consistent arm for the Cardinals' bullpen.

He's pitched in a career high of 47 games this season. He has a 3-1 record with a 2.59 ERA. He's pitched 66 innings and struck out 58 batters. In his last seven games, he's 1-0 with a .82 ERA. He's pitched 11 innings and given up one run while striking out 10 batters. He has a WHIP of .36. He has a CSW of 28.1 percent this season. He's had a growth of four percentage points since last season.

Leahy has made adjustments this season to help him earn a spot as a multiple-innings reliever for the club. He's still pre-arbitration eligible with plenty of potential.

Riley O'Brien

O'Brien is another bullpen arm that's made some changes to earn a job with the Cardinals. He is 1-0 in 27 games for the Cardinals. He has an ERA of 1.69 over 32 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts. He has a save and five holds. He has a CSW of 27.4 percent.

O'Brien has induced ground balls at 51.8 percent. This is up from 38.5 percent in 2024. Dusty Blake has done a great job in getting O'Brien to become an excellent option out of the bullpen to make use of a defense capable of nabbing those ground balls.

Matt Svanson

Svanson has made great use of his runway with the Cardinals this season by becoming an excellent multiple-inning option out of the pen. This season, he is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 23 games. He's pitched 36.2 innings with 37 strikeouts and a WHIP of .79.

In his last appearance on Tuesday, Svanson pitched three innings, giving up one hit and striking out four batters. The Cardinals lost this game 3-0 after a two-run home run off the bat of Hunter Goodman and a single from Kyle Farmer to drive in Brenton Doyle. Svanson was able to give the Cardinals a chance to get back into the game. The team's inconsistent offense, unfortunately, didn't show up against the last-place Rockies.