Cardinals’ latest bullpen move feels more like a shuffle than a solution

The St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen has been leaky to begin the 2026 season, and their latest roster shuffle is unlikely to fix the core of those issues. Prior to Monday evening's contest against the Cleveland Guardians, the Cardinals designated lefty Jared Shuster for an assignment and recalled right-hander Ryan Fernandez from Memphis.

Shuster, a former first-round pick by the Atlanta Braves, was signed by the Cardinals this offseason to a minor league deal and called up to St. Louis this past week when they optioned Chris Roycroft to Memphis. Shuster appeared in two games for the Cardinals this weekend, including a scoreless outing on Saturday and allowing two runs in three innings of work on Sunday.

Fernandez, who the Cardinals selected in the Rule 5 draft prior to the 2024 season from the Boston Red Sox, had a dynamite debut year for the club that season, posting a 3.51 ERA in 62 outings for the Cardinals' bullpen that year, quickly becoming a high-leverage option. He really struggled in 2025, posting a 7.71 ERA, but has not allowed a run in six appearances at Triple-A this season.

While Fernandez could be a welcome addition to the bullpen mix, he is unlikely to truly help "fix" the woes that unit has had this year. Riley O'Brien, JoJo Romero, George Soriano, and Gordon Graceffo have been really good so far this year, but the rest of the mix has been either inconsistent or just bad to start the year.

Don't be surprised if the Cardinals claim a left-handed reliever off of waivers

The Cardinals lost three different depth left-handed arms in the last week after designating Jared Shuster for an assignment, trading Nick Raquet to the Baltimore Orioles, and likely losing Packy Naughton to another major elbow injury. The Cardinals' 40-man roster currently sits at 39 after this move, so that does leave them the ability to claim someone off of waivers or call up someone not currently on their 40-man roster.

Derrick Goold made the point on X yesterday that the Cardinals could look to snag a lefty on waivers to help replenish some of that depth. Currently, options like Martin Perez, Kolby Allard, and Richard Lovelady are all available on waivers.

If not, the Cardinals can keep that spot open for other internal arms not yet on the 40-man roster, like Scott Blewett, Luis Gastelum, the newly returned Cade Winquest, or other potential relievers that they may want to cycle into their mix.

Fans have been clamoring for Matt Svanson to get a trip down to Memphis, but manager Oli Marmol has made it clear that they won't be making that move anytime soon. He believes that Svanson's issue right now boils down to getting big leaguers out, and the only way he's going to fix that is by facing Major League talent. If he continues to pitch poorly, eventually their hand will be forced, but it sounds like Marmol believes the same reliever that posted a sub-2.00 ERA last year is still in there and will work his way out of this at the Major League level.

Still, whether it is Svanson or another arm, the Cardinals will have to keep churning through options until things stabilize.