Cardinals’ latest pitching signing says everything about this week’s roster mess

The St. Louis Cardinals made a flurry of changes to their pitching staff this past week to try and survive this final stretch of games leading into the All-Star Break, and now have signed a fresh arm, Durbin Feltman, to join the Triple-A depth they've been accumulating.

The Cardinals announced the signing of the right-hander Feltman on Wednesday, inking him to a minor league deal that will see him join the Memphis Redbirds. Feltman, 29, was pitching in independent ball and put up a 2.09 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in 13 appearances for the Kansas City Monarchs, striking out 20 batters in the process.

Tasked with finishing out a stretch of 14 games in 13 days heading into the break, the challenge was no joke. The doubleheader on Tuesday was further complicated by a short start from Dustin May during the weekend and a bullpen that was as taxed as it could be. This led the Cardinals to make a ton of moves, including optioning Ryan Fernandez, transferring Max Rajcic to the 60-day IL, adding Bruce Zimmerman to the 40-man roster, and calling upon Hunter Dobbins as their 27th man.

After game one of the doubleheader, Zimmerman was DFA'd, lefty Jared Shuster was added to the 40-man roster, and after his blowup performance, Shuster was DFA'd as well. Then, the Cardinals added red-hot reliever prospect Luis Gastelum to their 40-man roster and called him up to make his MLB debut.

Durbin Feltman likely represents immediate Triple-A depth for the Cardinals

I'm not sure if we'll end up seeing Feltman make an MLB debut for the Cardinals at any point, but his addition does help shore up thinned pitching in Memphis after all of these recent moves. There is no guarantee that Zimmerman will pass through waivers, and with Rajcic down for at least the next 60 days, the Cardinals have certainly had a few arms drop off their list of options they can turn to.

Feltman was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft, the year before Chaim Bloom took over. Feltman showed some flashes inside the Red Sox organization but was released by Boston during Bloom's final season and then signed with the Oakland Athletics, where he made 21 Double-A appearances before electing free agency.

Feltman spent the last few seasons between the Puerto Rican Winter League and Independent Ball before signing with the Cardinals.

As I've noted on the site for the last few months, part of the reason the Cardinals are having to play roster gymnastics right now is that there are four 40-man roster spots that are currently being taken up by guys who are either injured or not close to making an MLB debut. Richard Fitts and Tekoah Roby are both currently injured, and while Roby may pitch again later this year, neither is an option to be with St. Louis in 2026. Cooper Hjerpe just returned to the field from his own elbow injury, but he's with Double-A Springfield. Tink Hence is in Memphis, but seems to be way behind where they want him to be on the mound right now.

Roby and Fitts could both be moved to the Major League 60-day injured list to create 40-man roster flexibility, but if the Cardinals do so, they have to pay them a Major League salary and get their service time clocks rolling. The Cardinals, to this point, have shown no interest in doing so.

Unless the Cardinals change their thought process on that, the club is very constrained in the types of moves that they can make. The only arms on their 40-man roster that can be called up or down right now are Gordon Graceffo, Luis Gastelum, Matt Svanson, Brycen Matuz, Ryan Fernandez, Tink Hence, and Hunter Dobbins. Anyone else would have to be designated for assignment to be optioned and open up a 40-man roster spot, or someone would have to be placed on the Major League 60-day injured list.

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