Ranking the ceilings of the St. Louis Cardinals' top pitching prospects

#7 - Michael McGreevy

Ranking on Cardinals' top prospect lists:
Baseball America: #8
MLB.com: #6
Birds on the Black: #16
Data Driven: NR (their list was only the top 12)

Michael McGreevy was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of UC Santa Barbara and really fits the mold of recent arms in the Cardinals system. Pitch to contact, don't walk batters, and limit the damage.

While that may annoy fans, and yes they need to be a bit more aggressive with their selection of arms in the draft than the McGreevy pick, part of the reason you select a guy like him is that his floor is much higher than a lot of young pitchers - evidence by his success already in the minors.

This season McGreevy is 6-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 50 SO in 66.2 innings of work in both Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. McGreevy is just 22 years old and could be at the backend of the Cardinals rotation for the 2024 season.

Not only have the Cardinals lacked top-end pitching talent in recent years, but they've also not had enough arms to plug into the backend of their rotation in the McGreevy mold. He does not have the ceiling of a front-line starter, but he can be a steady rotation option for multiple years, helping steer them away from needing to invest in middling arms in free agency.