Cardinals address bullpen woes by rewarding another hot prospect with MLB debut

The St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen had multiple hiccups over the last week, and Chaim Bloom took action to solve those woes on Thursday by rewarding another prospect with their first big league call-up, this time in the form of right-handed reliever Max Rajcic.

The Cardinals optioned Chris Roycroft to make room for Rajcic on their roster, but they will need to make a 40-man roster move to clear a spot for him as well. Roycroft could be the one they part ways with, or it could be a different player on their roster.

This season, the Cardinals converted Rajcic into a reliever, and he's unlocked a new side of his game that has earned him an MLB debut.

In 26 appearances for Memphis this year, Rajcic has a 2.88 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 40.2 innings of work. 14 of Rajcic's 26 appearances have seen him go more than one inning of work, so he presents the Cardinals with a bullpen arm that can go multiple innings, something they've sort of been missing since Kyle Leahy moved into the rotation.

Max Rajcic can help stabilize what has been a volatile Cardinals bullpen

The Cardinals' bullpen has been leaky at various points in the year. Since June 1st, the likes of Riley O'Brien, JoJo Romero, Gordon Graceffo, and Chris Roycroft all have ERAs north of 4.90, and so some kind of shake-up really did need to happen.

Rajcic may become a very valuable piece of their bullpen in the middle innings by buying Marmol more than an inning of work to help save an arm or two that day. While the Cardinals got nine, seven, and six innings of work from their starters this past series, the norm for their rotation this year has been six or fewer, and that has put quite the strain on their bullpen.

Rajcic is unique as a reliever because of the six different pitches he can go to, although he doesn't really throw his sinker anymore. Against right-handed hitters, Rajcic primarily throws his fastball, sweeper, and slider while mixing in his curveball and change-up, and against lefties, he mostly ditches the sweeper and slider.

If you want to get to know Rajcic more, you can check out my interview with him from Dealin' the Cards. He is a great dude and someone who will hopefully be able to stick in the Cardinals' bullpen for quite some time.

Stay on the lookout for Rajcic to make his big league debut this weekend in Kansas City!

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