Last year's rotation crutch has become the Cardinals' most consistent arm in 2026

The month of June has brought some inconsistencies to the St. Louis Cardinals, but even with those struggles, the team is still over .500 for the month and in control of their postseason future. As the offense and pitching seemingly trade good games, the Cardinals rotation has been anchored by Andre Pallante.

Pallante being the rotation anchor seemed like a fantasy at the end of last season, but credit to the righty for making the necessary adjustments this year. After last year's All-Star break, Pallante went 1-10 with a 6.64 ERA and averaged just 4.8 innings per start, putting more stress on an already bad bullpen. Through his first 15 starts this year, though, Pallante is 9-4 and tied for the major-league lead in wins. He has shrunk his ERA down to 3.59 and is averaging more than 5.5 innings per start.

Andre Pallante has become the Cardinals' version of a stopper

The season-long numbers are solid, but Pallante's June has been the best month of his career since becoming a starter. Through four starts this month, the righty is 4-0 with a 2.14 ERA while notching a quality start in all of his outings. He has been one of the best starters in the National League during June, sitting second in wins, ninth in ERA, and 10th in fWAR among starters with at least 20 innings pitched.

Through the third game of the Diamondbacks series, the Cardinals rotation was sitting at 25th in the league in terms of fWAR. This tumble has been quick, especially as Matthew Liberatore's struggles to provide quality and length in his starts continued on Wednesday. The rotation issues come at a tough time, as the offense has also hit a mini speed bump. With the team's overall hiccup, Chaim Bloom will have to wade through tough waters at the trade deadline as he figures out what this version of the St. Louis Cardinals really are.

In Pallante's case, he has firmly entrenched himself as a capable major league starter after making the necessary adjustments coming into the season. After struggling to find the strike zone in years past, Pallante is climbing the NL leaderboard in terms of walk rate and is currently second in the rotation with a 1.19 WHIP. His fastball and slider are working better than they ever have, and he has failed to complete five innings just once all season. Last year, he did not complete five innings in eight of his 31 starts, and Oli Marmol has shown confidence in the 27-year-old, allowing him to work deeper into games even if his pitch count was elevated.

Andre Pallante has not lost a game since May 17, and even that was a tough-luck loss, as he allowed just one unearned run through 6.2 innings of work. He has become a dependable arm for Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake, and it has to be a sigh of relief for all parties to see him taking the next step as a major league arm. There will be plenty of interesting news around Pallante and his future with the Cardinals in the coming months and into the offseason as new Cardinals leadership must determine the next step in the rebuild plan. For now, Pallante has done everything necessary to continue taking the ball every fifth day.

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