Andre Pallante's spot in Cardinals rotation stays locked thanks to another injury

In what has become an alarming trend for the St. Louis Cardinals minor league pitchers, another injury has popped up for the organization's pitching staff. After putting together some solid performances to start the season, intriguing rotation depth piece Richard Fitts has hit the injured list with a shoulder issue.

Richard Fitts' move to the injured list all but guarantees Andre Pallante will remain in the Cardinals rotation.

Acquired in the Sonny Gray deal, starter Richard Fitts brought immediate excitement to Cardinals fans, as the big righty boasts a power fastball and, before last season, a clean bill of health. That combination caused an increase in calls for Fitts to move into the big league rotation in exchange for Andre Pallante, who put up a 6.64 ERA with a 1-10 record after the All-Star break last season. Even after a solid spring from the newly acquired Fitts, the Cardinals opted to keep Pallante in the rotation while Fitts stayed stretched out as starter depth in Memphis. Unfortunately, that depth is no more thanks to the latest injury news around the former Boston pitcher.

According to Jeff Jones, Fitts will be hitting the injured list thanks to a lat strain, the third injury to his throwing arm since last season, when he missed time thanks to a pectoral strain and then missed the rest of the year thanks to neuritis. After he was acquired, Fitts stood out immediately as a rotation piece, flashing an upper-90s fastball and a solid mix of secondary pitches.

The Cardinals, though, opted to stick with their familiar pieces with Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy rounding out the rotation as those two looked to prove their long-term value to the organization with others breathing down their necks in the minors. Pallante looked to be on thin ice after struggling again to start this year, giving up nine runs over his last two starts after beginning the year with a scoreless five-inning outing. Now with Fitts out of the picture for an undetermined amount of time, it looks like we may be seeing plenty more of Pallante unless his struggles make him unplayable as a starter, especially if someone like Hunter Dobbins or Quinn Mathews forces the issue.

In a year of answering questions, Pallante looked to find some solutions to his own struggles in an attempt to prolong his starting career, but he has been even more hittable this season than last, while once again fighting with his command. What he does do, though, is eat five innings pretty consistently, a number he hit in 23 of his 31 starts last year, even though there were times we all probably wished he was not on the mound in the fifth frame. With an unproven bullpen that may never be at full strength to support the starters, going deeper into games is something this iteration of the Cardinals' rotation is going to have to improve upon if they wish to be competitive. The names closest to the majors, Dobbins and Mathews, also have plenty to prove in Memphis before they actually threaten Pallante's roster status.

As the year progresses and the minor league arms continue to be stretched out, the conversation around Pallante will likely continue. The hope is that he can work out to be a solid backend starter, but early in his career, he was more effective in the bullpen. Now two years removed from a full-time reliever role, there is no way to know how much he would actually be able to help out the relievers, especially as his command continues to falter and he is still being hit hard. A move down to Memphis could be on the table, but the Cardinals may be looking for quantity instead of quality when it comes to the innings being eaten at the major league level. Barring injury, I predict we see Pallante consistently for at least another month.

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