Brycen Mautz, the Cardinals' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2025, will make his MLB debut on Sunday when he starts for the Cards against the Reds, manager Oliver Marmol told reporters in Cincinnati on Saturday night.

With the Cardinals getting rained out on Friday and having to use starters Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy on Saturday, the Cardinals were looking for an opportunity to add a sixth starter to give their staff a breather. Also, by promoting the 24-year-old Mautz for Sunday’s start against the Reds, it sets up Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy and Dustin May to make the three starts in Milwaukee against the surging Brewers next week.

The Cardinals split Saturday’s two games against a Reds squad that has struggled most of May. The Cards won Game 1 8-1 thanks to an MLB debut for the ages from Bryan Torres, who had his first MLB hit and a two-run homer in front of his friends and family who had traveled from Puerto Rico for the game.

In the nightcap, Jordan Walker blasted a three-run homer and singled in the tying run with two outs in the ninth only to see the Cards fall 7-6 in 11 innings. Cardinals’ Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn was perfectly positioned for a ball hit back up the middle with a fifth infielder brough in, but his throw home bounced and Spencer Speer scored before Yohel Pozo’s tag.

The 6-foot-3 Mautz was a second-round pick out of the University of San Diego by the Cardinals in the 2022 MLB Draft. After steadily working his way through the system, he went 8-3 with a 2.98 in 2025 while helping Double-A Springfield win the Texas League title.

This season, Mautz is 0-2 with a 2.90 ERA over nine starts with Triple-A Memphis. Over 40 1/3 innings of work, he has struck out 43 batters, while walking 24. Triple-A hitters have four homers off Mautz, but they have hit just .209 against him on the season.  

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