Cardinals reward high-performing pitcher with MLB call up and activate key slugger

Another Major League debut is close to happening
Pittsburgh Pirates v St. Louis Cardinals
Pittsburgh Pirates v St. Louis Cardinals | Dilip Vishwanat/GettyImages

With the St. Louis Cardinals' season winding down and 2026 on everyone's minds, this is the perfect time to give prospects or high-performing minor leaguers an opportunity at the big league level, and the Cardinals are choosing to do the latter today.

Left-handed reliever Nick Raquet has been with the Cardinals for two seasons now, and after a dominant year at Double-A Springfield and a so-so performance with the Memphis Redbirds, is getting his big league call-up.

Cardinals call up Nick Raquet and activate Alec Burleson

Raquet posted a 0.77 ERA in 35 innings this year for Memphis, striking out 38 batters and holding opposing hitters to a .223 batting average. He got his move up to Memphis, and it went fine, with a 4.05 ERA in 13.1 innings of work.

The 29-year-old will join the Cardinals' bullpen this week and have the chance to show if his stuff can play at the big league level. Whether it is with the Cardinals or another club, this stretch can play a big role in whether or not he gets another shot next season.

The Cardinals optioned Andre Granillo to Memphis as the corresponding move, who has struggled in his first year with the Cardinals to the tune of a 4.71 ERA in 14 games.

Along with Raquet's promotion is the activation of OF/1B Alec Burleson, who has been one of the Cardinals' best hitters this year but was out recently due to a wrist injury. In 122 games this year, Burleson has slashed .286/.337/.451 with 16 HR and 60 RBI, good for a 120 wRC+. How Burleson finishes out these last few weeks will matter even more than how Raquet performs, as the Cardinals should be curious to see if Burleson can avoid that end-of-year fall-off he had last season.

Garrett Hampson, who has mostly sat on the bench for the Cardinals since being acquired off waivers this summer, was designated for an assignment in order to bring back Burleson to the roster. With both Victor Scott II and Nathan Church as options in center field and Masyn Winn and Thomas Saggese covering shortstop, there really is no reason for Hampson to remain on the roster for the rest of the year.