Cardinals' former first-round pick continues 2026 carousel with a team that may finally unlock him

Jake Woodford hasn't pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals since 2023, but that hasn't stopped his name from getting thrown around in our neck of the woods pretty frequently this year. A first-round pick of the Redbirds back in 2015, the right-hander has danced around the NL Central in recent years, including a brief stint with the Pirates in 2024 and even shorter tenures with the Brewers and Cubs this season.

His 2026 transaction log reads like a messed-up line of code in a video game; he started the year with the Tampa Bay Rays in camp, joined the Brewers via an upward mobility clause in his contract, and then was twice DFA'd by the Cubs before eventually hitting free agency this month.

Now, he's going back to where it all began (this year), signing with the Rays on a minor-league deal.

He obviously hasn't had a ton of success in the big leagues, but someone with first-round pedigree joining the Rays' esteemed pitching lab bodes well for Woodford's future.

Jake Woodford's second go-round with Rays could prove to be his best and final shot at MLB glory

The closest thing to success Woodford has experienced in the majors in his career came in St. Louis, where he recorded a 4.29 ERA and 4.94 FIP over 184.2 innings. He's converted to the bullpen since skipping town, but even that pivot hasn't helped him live up to his top-prospect billing.

However, he did enjoy some success with the Rays in spring training this year, posting a 1.23 ERA over 7.1 frames. Carrying exhibition stats over to games that matter is a difficult task, but if there's any team that can help Woodford do it, it's Tampa Bay.

Their pitching lab specializes in movement. Woodford, a right-hander armed with five different pitches (and up to seven, depending on which source is doing the classification), already excels at varying his movement along the horizontal plane. His problem has always been getting hitters to change their eye level on the vertical plane.

Luckily for him, the Rays are one of the best organizations in the league at altering spins and movement profiles. They'll almost certainly help Woodford throw his fastballs higher in the zone while burying his primary breaking ball (a sweeper) low and away from righties. It helps that he's already got pristine command.

There's no guarantee that the former first-rounder who is now onto his seventh organization in the past four years will magically unlock the potential that made him a top draft pick over a decade ago. But if there's any franchise that can make Jake Woodford into the pitcher the Cardinals long hoped for, it's the Rays.

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