Next man up for Cardinals rotation could go a couple different ways

The St. Louis Cardinals, along with the rest of the league, are trimming down their Spring Training roster as they look to finalize their personnel heading into the regular season. Even as the team ships guys from big league camp to the minor league side, there is a high likelihood we will see a few of these players with the major league squad before long.

Who is the next man up in the Cardinals rotation if injury strikes?

For the entirety of Spring Training, there has been conversation surrounding the Cardinals' rotation and how they will spread innings out among the seven arms with big league experience and the prospects who are approaching their first call to the majors. Now, as Opening Day approaches, the starting rotation appears to be nearing completion, with the five spots being taken by the expected names when camp started. Outside of locks Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, and Michael McGreevy, it seems as if Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy have taken hold of the last two spots for now.

While Liberatore and Richard Fitts have seen their stuff measure out near the top of the league this spring, Fitts looks to be one of the first guys out of the initial rotation as he looks to fine-tune his stuff at Memphis. Depending on how he takes to being near the front of the Triple-A staff, the trade acquisition could become one the first guys up if someone in the starting five were to miss time. Now, the length of expected absence could play a role into if Fitts or another arm receives the call to Busch Stadium.

In a short-term situation, it would make sense to have Fitts, who does have major league experience and looks to be closest to big league ready, jump right up for a couple starts in a short audition for a future opportunity. In the case of an injury that causes a lengthier absence, the Cardinals might weigh the possibility of a longer audition for a prospect to get his feet wet at the highest level. With an injury that might see the hampered arm miss five or more starts, Quinn Mathews could find himself getting a low-risk opportunity to impress the big league staff and the player development team.

After Mathews faced a trying season in 2025, he has remained confident heading into this year and wants to prove that his professional debut year is what we should expect out of the lefty. In 2024, he was named the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year and even put his name into the conversation among fans for a late-season call-up or a rotation piece in the next season. Injuries, inconsistency, and a little sophomore slump pumped the brakes on the Mathews to the Majors train but is looks to be picking up steam once again. Unlike Fitts, Mathews has not yet been called up to the majors, so if the Cardinals want to start his service time clock, they would likely want to be sure he would be with the big league club for more than a start or two.

Of course, how each of these two perform at the time of any major league rotation injury will factor into the decision. In the instance that neither of these guys is ready to make the jump, we could see guys like Brycen Mautz or even Tink Hence get a call on a short-term basis.