Andre Pallante, who has authored a feel-good, bounce-back season in 2026, was placed on the 15-day Injured List with right elbow inflammation on Friday. He is the first Cards' starting pitcher to be placed on the IL with an arm injury since September of 2024.
When the Cardinals were forced to put Andre Pallante on the 15-day Injured List on Friday because of right elbow inflammation, it was the first time one of their starting pitchers had suffered a significant arm injury in nearly two years.
Sonny Gray was the Cardinals’ last starting pitcher to go on the Injured List with an arm injury and that precautionary move after the Cards had been eliminated from playoff contention came on Sept. 19, 2024.
Pallante, one of the Cardinals’ best feel-good, bounce-back stories of the season, tested out his right elbow on Friday before the team’s game in Philadelphia and was still experiencing enough pain to go on the 15-day IL, retroactive to Tuesday. Pallante, who was scheduled to likely pitch on Saturday against the Phillies, apparently suffered the elbow injury at some point on Monday night when he pitched six innings against the Reds. He surrendered a season-most 10 hits and four earned runs in the no-decision against the rival Reds and was lifted after 88 pitches.
Ryan Fernandez was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to take Pallante’s spot on the roster. Fernandez, a big part of the Cardinals’ bullpen in 2024 before encountering struggles in 2025, has appeared in 11 games this season with St. Louis in 2026 and is 1-2 with a 2.70 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings. He was 4-2 with a save and a 3.00 ERA in 31 games for Memphis this season.
Hunter Dobbins (3-3, 3.42 ERA) is scheduled to start tonight against Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo (11-5, 3.23 ERA). The Cardinals (66-63) – winners of seven of their last 10 games and having captured five straight series victories – start tonight 2 12 games back of San Diego for the final Wild Card slot in the National League playoff chase. The Phillies (70-58) currently sit in the NL’s No. 2 Wild Card slot and have won six in a row and eight of 10 – with those two losses coming to the Cardinals last week at Busch Stadium.
Quinn Mathews, who pitched four innings of one-run baseball in Monday’s 2-1 win over the Reds, is a strong candidate to be recalled from Memphis to make Pallante’s scheduled start on Saturday night against Philadelphia right-hander Andrew Painter (2-8, 6.43 ERA). Kyle Leahy will start on Sunday opposite Phillies All-Star Cristopher Sanchez (16-4, 2.51 ERA).
Pallante showed up at Spring Training and had to battle for a starting spot after going 6-15 with a 5.31 ERA in a disastrous 2025 season. Pallante went 0-8 over his final 10 starts of 2025 and went into the offseason looking to revamp the shapes and the mix of his pitch arsenal.
The 27-year-old right-hander, who has been in the Cardinals organization since being picked in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft, has rebounded in 2026 by going 12-6 with a 3.57 ERA in 24 starts. His 12 wins are tied for ninth in MLB and sixth in the National League.
