The Cardinals finally call up Michael McGreevy, but his role will frustrate fans

Ever since the St. Louis Cardinals announced their Opening Day roster this year, fans have been clamoring for one specific player to make his return to the roster. Their wish has finally been granted.

The Cardinals are recalling right-handed pitcher Michael McGreevy to the big league roster and optioning right-handed reliever Roddery Munoz back to Memphis, just one day after Munoz was recalled to St. Louis.

Michael McGreevy has been called up to the Cardinals' roster, but not for the role most fans are hoping for.

In case you’re confused by all of the roster shuffling, over the last 48 hours, relievers Matt Svanson and Riley O’Brien were optioned to Memphis while Chris Roycroft and Munoz were recalled to St. Louis, and now Munoz has been swapped out for McGreevy.

McGreevy dazzled in his limited opportunities with the big league club last year, posting a 1.96 ERA in three starts and one relief appearance. Many fans (and even John Mozeliak himself) expected McGreevy to be a part of their rotation this year when the offseason began, but Mozeliak and the front office seemed to shift those plans as they decided to hold onto players they had on the roster.

McGreevy was even better when he reported to camp this spring, posting a 1.08 ERA in four starts and one relief appearance, but the club decided to have McGreevy begin the year in Memphis instead of their rotation. On one hand, it opened up space for Matthew Liberatore to shine like he has this year, but on the other hand, it was another piece of evidence as to why the Cardinals should have traded a starter like Erick Fedde during the offseason.

During his six starts with Memphis this year, McGreevy has been okay, posting a 4.08 ERA in 28.2 innings of work. No one should expect McGreevy to come up and post a sub-2.00 ERA like he did last year, but I do think fans are rightfully excited to see him in the rotation and, hopefully, stick as a back-end of the rotation option for the next few years.

All of this, including the surprise move to bring him up to St. Louis today, has left fans wondering what his role will be after getting the call yesterday. Katie Woo of The Athletic is reporting that McGreevy is up as an insurance option for the Cardinals this weekend due to a short start from Gray on Friday and the potential of a rain delay or postponement of today's game.

A first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2021, McGreevy has a chance to join Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore as the only internally developed starters who have been able to make an impact in the Cardinals' rotation since 2020, which is one of the major reasons why the club has struggled so much to start this decade. Even so, it does not sound like he will get to remain with the club beyond this weekend.

We did get a fun little tidbit about how McGreevy heard he was coming back to St. Louis, as he apparently had just gotten out of a movie theater after seeing the new Marvel movie, Thunderbolts*.

This story will be updated as we continue to learn more about the decision to bring McGreevy back to the Major League roster.