Ranking the 10 most valuable young players in the St. Louis Cardinals organization

#10 - Michael McGreevy

I have no issue admitting when I was wrong on a player. When Michael McGreevy was called up for a spot start last summer, I had every expectation that he'd get rocked in St. Louis and return to Memphis to try and develop. Instead, he went seven innings against the Texas Rangers, allowing just one run on five hits and a walk.

McGreevy was brought back to St. Louis in late September and continued to impress, allowing just two hits in a three-inning relief appearance. He made two more starts for them as well, allowing just three runs in five innings at Coors Field and then shutting down the Giants' lineup for just one run in eight innings of work.

Coming into the 2025 season, the thought was that McGreevy would be in the big league rotation to get his first full run with the team. Instead, the club held onto their veteran starters, and McGreevy once again began the year down in Memphis.

McGreevy did get one opportunity to make his mark on the club again earlier this month, coming out of the Cardinals' bullpen against the New York Mets with the bases loaded in the fourth inning of a doubleheader, and proceeded to give the Cardinals 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just one hit and one walk to one of the best teams in all of baseball.

McGreevy has pitched like an ace in his five career big league games. No, that's not what I think he will be as a big leaguer, but his ability to show up in big moments already in his career and go toe to toe with the best in baseball gives me confidence that he will be a productive starter for a long time.

While McGreevy projects as more of a back-of-the-rotation kind of arm, some of the improvements he has made to his arsenal even since last year may give him the potential to be a middle-of-the-rotation guy.

Cost-controlled pitching is one of the most desirable assets in all of baseball. You can never have enough pitching, and having a guy that you can depend on and are only paying the league minimum is like gold in today's game.

I don't know if McGreevy will be more than a back-end starter, but I am confident he will be a productive one when given the chance. The fact that I feel so good about McGreevy's floor, and know that he also could be even better than we thought, lands him on my list of the most valuable Cardinals right now.