Cardinals News: Dylan Carlson promoted, Carson Kelly makes history, Jordan Montgomery

It was quite a start to the season for several former St. Louis Cardinals. From the highs of being promoted to the major-league roster to the lows of being told you'll miss an entire season, several old players received career-altering news this past week. Here's a roundup of those stories.

Former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Carson Kelly hits for the cycle.

It's been a while since catcher Carson Kelly has had his name in the headlines. Kelly, a former #2 organizational prospect, played for the Cardinals from 2016-2018 before being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks as a part of the trade that brought Paul Goldschmidt to St. Louis. Kelly has since played for the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. He most recently signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal to play for the Chicago Cubs and form a nice catching duo with Miguel Amaya.

Expectations for Kelly would be that he would be a veteran on the bench to inspire a Cubs team looking to make a postseason push this year while also spelling Amaya from time to time. Kelly did more than that on Monday night against the Athletics.

In the first major-league game for the Athletics at their temporary home in Sacramento, Carson Kelly hit for the cycle in an 18-3 routing. Kelly's first part of the cycle was a home run in the fourth inning. He then singled in the fifth and hit a double in the sixth. When he came up to bat again in the eighth inning, Kelly knew it would be a long shot.

"The two times I had triples, both guys fell down — like ran into the wall and fell down," said Kelly.

His cycle marked the first one of 2025 and the first time since 2006 for a player in the final spot in the lineup. This was also the first cycle in Cubs history for a catcher since Randy Hundley in 1966.

Dylan Carlson earns a promotion for the Baltimore Orioles.

Dylan Carlson was one of the youngest free agents this offseason at the age of 26. He has struggled with injuries and underperformance throughout his career despite promise as a prospect, and his one-year contract worth just under $1 million was evidence of that. Carlson signed with the Baltimore Orioles, and several other former Cardinals, including Tyler O'Neill, Andrew Kittredge, and Kyle Gibson, joined him.

Carlson started the year off in Triple-A Norfolk despite posting a .321/.500/.571 line in spring training through 44 plate appearances. However, Carlson was promoted to the majors over the weekend due to an injury to outfielder Colton Cowser. Carlson already had three hits, one of which was a home run, for Norfolk in only two games, and he had logged two walks and two strikeouts. Carlson will likely slot in as the Orioles' fourth outfielder for the time being.

Jordan Montgomery will undergo Tommy John surgery.

For most of his career, Jordan Montgomery has been a reliable mid-rotation starting pitcher. From 2021-2023, Montgomery made at least 30 starts each year and had an ERA well below 4.00 each year. When the St. Louis Cardinals acquired him for outfielder Harrison Bader at the 2022 MLB trade deadline, Monty slotted in nicely near the top of the rotation for a playoff-bound Cardinals. He finished the year with a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts for the Cardinals.

Montgomery continued his success in 2023 with both the Cardinals and the World Series champion Texas Rangers. He propelled his career success into a bizarre one-year, $25 million deal with a chance to earn as much as $25 million via a vesting year for 2025. Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick expressed frustration with Montgomery's performance coming off a lucrative deal, and that bothered Montgomery, too.

Now, on the heels of his worst career season in 2024, the southpaw is receiving more bad news. According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, Montgomery will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2025 and a good portion of 2026 as well. This isn't good news for a player in his 30s who was looking to find some late-career success.

Now, Jordan Montgomery will have to focus on his rehab to return to prowess as a starting pitcher in 2027.