6 players the Cardinals are holding back this year

Michael McGreevy

A spot in the 2025 rotation at the start of the season always seemed like a lofty goal for Michael McGreevy after the Cardinals planned to hold on to Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Andre Pallante, and Erick Fedde, which left only one spot for the fifth starter competition. Near the end of Spring Training, the Cardinals noted that they were discussing the possibility of a six-man rotation, and the expectation was that both Matz and McGreevy would fill those final spots with Liberatore moving to the bullpen. Since that did not happen as expected, McGreevy was optioned down to Memphis despite a spring that saw him pitch to a 1.06 ERA without walking a batter in 16.2 innings.

The decision made sense with the other moves and the organization stating that the rotation depth in Memphis was lacking to say the least. That depth took an even bigger hit when Tink Hence hit the IL with a rib cage strain, Cooper Hjerpe was knocked out for the year with Tommy John surgery on deck, and top pitching prospect Quinn Mathews hit the injured list after massive command and velocity struggles seemed to be explained by a sore shoulder. This left McGreevy as the de facto number one pitcher in Triple-A as the team looked to keep his workload and schedule consistent with that of a future big league starter. This plan was even more apparent when they opted to recall Gordon Graceffo as the 27th man in a doubleheader instead of McGreevy.

As covered with Steven Matz, there is not a clear path for McGreevy to head to St. Louis outside of injury or trade. The idea of McGreevy being put into the rotation with Miles Mikolas moving to the bullpen has been floated by fans on social media, but that does not make much sense in my mind. The Cardinals' rotation currently has four right-handed pitchers who are all very similar to each other: contact-oriented inning-eaters who the team hopes can limit the damage rather than dominate a game. McGreevy fits into that mold as well, as the team has refused to take a chance on a high-velocity strikeout starter.

So how exactly then are the Cardinals holding him back? As I mentioned with Matz, a six-man rotation could have been a solid opportunity to get both arms into the rotation and limit the number of times that Mikolas and others would have to take the mound. Of course, this went out the window when Liberatore was moved to the rotation. Without a move to the rotation, McGreevy may be in Memphis purgatory until something bigger happens with the major league club.

This is nothing against McGreevy, because he has done everything necessary to deserve a look in the big league rotation, but there is just no space for him at the moment. He has continued to pitch well since being moved to Triple-A and continues to be a consistent arm for the organizational depth. So far with Memphis, McGreevy is 3-1 in 25 innings and has increased his strikeout rate to a decent 21% and continues to limit free passes, allowing only four walks so far. His 3.60 ERA looks to be close to his expected stats, even though opposing hitters have a .274 average against the righty. The damage has been limited because of his command, but he will have to develop a wipeout pitch to work out of jams created by soft contact that has worn down St. Louis pitchers for too long.