Cardinals acquire World Series star reliever to help shore up bullpen depth

John Mozeliak may have just pulled a rabbit out of his hat to improve the St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen, adding a recent World Series star to their mix today.

While the Cardinals' relief corps has been better since their rocky start to the season, the club clearly needed reinforcements if they were going to sustain a high level of production all season long, and they just took their first shot at adding a new member to the mix.

The Cardinals have signed former World Series star Tyler Matzek to be a part of their bullpen depth

Tyler Matzek, who was designated for an assignment by the New York Yankees a few weeks ago, just signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals and is set to report to Memphis. In seven appearances with the Yankees this year, Matzek posted a 4.26 ERA in 6.1 innings of work while striking out seven batters, but clearly, the Yankees did not feel like they needed to continue to have him around.

Signed to a minor league deal by the Yankees this offseason, Matzek has had a highly productive career as a reliever, specifically from 2020-2022 as a member of the Atlanta Braves. During that three-year stretch, Matzek posted a 2.92 ERA over 132 games, striking out over 10 batters per nine innings. Matzek was a huge part of the Braves' bullpen on their World Series championship run in 2021, and for his big league career, has a 1.48 ERA in 20 postseason games.

Matzek did require Tommy John surgery at the end of 2022, forcing him to miss the entire 2023 season and only throwing 10 innings at the big league level in 2024. It's not surprising that it has taken him some time to get back to being productive, and the Cardinals are taking a minimal risk by adding him on a minor league deal.

Matzek, a left-hander, provides the Cardinals with some much-needed depth from that side. JoJo Romero has been up and down performance-wise this year, and John King has not been productive in his outings, leaving Steven Matz as the most reliable lefty in the bullpen. While Matz has been highly productive, the Cardinals need more options than him, especially given the fact that they use him in other roles aside from high-leverage as well.

Matzek is far from a sure thing to fill the role the Cardinals need, but this was an excellent dart throw to see if he can shore up the bullpen. Matzek's fastball velocity averaged out at 94.5 MPH with the Yankees this year, a tick above when he returned from injury last year and in line with his last healthy season with the Braves, although he was sitting at 96 MPH during his career year.

Matzek is a primary four-seam fastball pitcher who complements that with a slider and occasional sinker. He has always found more success with his fastball, so he will need to prove that pitch is back for him if he is going to be productive for St. Louis.

For now, Matzek will report to Memphis in hopes that his name is called to join the St. Louis bullpen in the near future. With a stretch of 28 games in 29 days coming up, Matzek will likely get a shot to come up to St. Louis this month, and if he produces, could claim one of those lefty roles over King. We will monitor Matzek's performance in Memphis for the time being.