ST. LOUIS – Before he would pitch in his first game at Busch Stadium – and deliver the kind of gutsy, clutch effort that would alter the way the club views him over the season ahead – Hunter Dobbins had questions for his fellow Cardinals pitchers during their pregame throwing programs.

Dobbins wasn’t asking for restaurant recommendations in St. Louis, a city he had never been to prior to flying into town last weekend from Omaha, Neb. And he also wasn’t querying his fellow hurlers about their plan of attack against Cubs superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong, who had torched the Cards for four hits a night earlier.

Instead, Dobbins’ pressing question was about a much trendier topic.

“During catch-play with the pitchers, I asked the guys, ‘So where is this Tarps Off section that I’ve heard so much about?’ Dobbins recalled. “They pointed it out being right over the bullpen, and I thought to myself how awesome that was going to be.

“Feeling their energy behind us all night, they were rowdy and it was a lot of fun. Even when I was just warming up, you could feel the crowd being into it, they’re right there on top of you and it even felt like they were right there with me on every warm-up pitch. It was so much fun, and I’m looking forward to experiencing it a lot more.”

The Cardinals definitely want to see more of Dobbins after the way he pitched in their win over the rival Cubs on Sunday night. Promoted from Triple-A Memphis to work in relief even though his previous 10 appearances had been as a starter, Dobbins was called upon to back up Matthew Liberatore on Sunday against the Cubs’ star-studded lineup.

Dobbins admitted being a bit out of his comfort zone by coming in out of the bullpen, and that was evident when the first batter he faced, All-Star slugger Alex Bregman, took him deep.

Admitted Dobbins later of coming out of the bullpen in the middle of an inning: “I definitely tip my cap to the guys who do that every night because that’s a different beast.”

Later in the game, Dobbins proved himself more ready to meet the moment with some of his best velocity of the night. He not only rallied from a 3-0 count, but he reached back for some extra firepower to strike out Dansby Swanson on a 97.5 fastball with two runners on and one out.

In that moment, Dobbins harkened back to his Cardinals debut nearly a month earlier when he started a game in Pittsburgh and had to leave after 4 1/3 innings of work because of five walks. In the weeks after that outing, Dobbins worked hard on his mechanics from the stretch position so that he could maintain velocity and his release point.

In the biggest spot in the game, Dobbins was ready and he came through to ensure a Cardinals victory.

“I wasn’t worried about (velocity) because we addressed it the last time I was optioned (to Triple-A) and it was just nice to feel the adrenaline of Busch,” said Dobbins, who compared the intensity of the moment of pitching in the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry to being in the Red Sox-Yankees cauldron in 2025 as an MLB rookie. “I think this confirms that we fixed the problem (with his mechanics and lagging velocity) and now we’re just go from here.”

While admitting that he was impressed with how Dobbins pitched in relief on Sunday – while picking up the first save of his professional baseball career – Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol stressed that Dobbins is still viewed as a starter and will likely return to that role in the coming weeks.

Dobbins will be available to pitch out of the bullpen again on Friday night when the Cardinals begin a three-game series against the rival Reds at Busch Stadium. Lars Nootbaar, who has months working his way back following double heel surgery in October, will also be rejoining the Cards for the start of the series against the Reds.

Marmol is already looking to see more from the 26-year-old right-hander.

“He’s a tough kid, he’s very confident and he knows what gives him success,” Marmol said of Dobbins, who recorded 11 outs against the Cubs while allowing just four hits and one earned run to go with four strikeouts and no walks against the Cubs. “He believes in his stuff, and I’ve enjoyed the conversations I’ve had with him.

“Even when he was working through the build up in Spring Training (following surgery to repair the ACL in his right knee0 there was an eagerness to him wanting to help us out of the gate. You want a player pushing you to help the team.”            

Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!