5 paths the St. Louis Cardinals can take to find a fifth starter

Zack Thompson or Andre Pallante

The Cardinals optioned left-handed Zack Thompson to AAA Memphis on April 24th with outfielder Jordan Walker. The plan for Thompson was to get stretched out to potentially help as a starter this year or next. He has been yo-yoed his entire career.

Before being demoted, Thompson was used as a reliever, and he had a 9.53 ERA in just 17 innings pitched in the majors. Since joining Memphis, Thompson has pitched 14.2 innings in 3 starts (4 appearances); he has a 1.84 ERA, 1.295 WHIP, and he is striking out almost 9 batters per nine innings. He hasn't pitched more than 4 innings in a start, but his pitch count has incrementally increased with each game.

Andre Pallante was having a terrible start to his year in St. Louis. He threw 10 innings with only 6 strikeouts, a 6.30 ERA, and a 1.900 WHIP. His slider and sinker were getting destroyed, and he was quite ineffective. Pallante, like Thompson, was demoted to build up and increase his bulk abilities. He has pitched in 4 games (all starts), and he has a 2.20 ERA with 9 strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched with the Memphis Redbirds. While Pallante has been good at limiting runs, he has continued to walk batters at an excessive rate. He has 13 walks to just 9 strikeouts in Memphis.

Thompson last pitched on the 15th, so his schedule doesn't line up very well, and Pallante pitched on the 17th, so his next start doesn't exactly fit the bill either. Both of these pitchers could use more fine-tuning in the minors, so while it's possible one of the two is called upon, it's not likely.