Cardinals' Pitcher Thankful for 'Gratifying' Season Following Disastrous '25

The most meaningful number in Andre Pallante’s 2026 season might not be his 12 victories, 3.83 ERA or 162 innings pitched. Instead, it might be the distance the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander put between himself and the pitcher who often arrived at the ballpark in 2025 wondering whether he belonged in the big leagues.

One year after going 6-15 with a 5.31 ERA and going winless over his final 10 stats, the Cardinals right-hander finished 12-9 over 29 starts. That win total could have easily been much higher had Pallante gotten some run support and if the Cardinals didn’t coast to the finish line in an ugly September. One of MLB’s best pitchers at inducing ground balls, Pallante allowed just 12 home runs in 2026 – a huge improvement over the 21 homers across 162 2/3 innings in 2025.

Pallante’s rebound was statistical, mechanical and deeply personal, he admited.

“It’s definitely gratifying,” Pallante said following his fifth big-league season. “It’s tough showing up to the ballpark when you don’t feel confident and you feel like you’re the reason the team’s losing.”

Some of the improvements, Pallante said, were due to better control of his front side and a more linear move toward home plate – factors in him having better command and velocity. Better direction allowed him to attack the strike zone with greater conviction instead of guiding the baseball through difficult counts.

Pallante’s pitch mix changed, too. Against right-handed hitters, he reduced his four-seam usage and leaned more heavily on a sinker-slider combination. He also introduced a splitter against left-handers, giving them another speed and movement profile to concern themselves with hitting.

Still, Pallante identified a July 3 start at Wrigley Field as his personal turning point. The Cubs had “torn me apart,” he said, and he took the mound that afternoon determined to get over the hump against the Cardinals’ hated rivals.

The headlines centered around the Cardinals scoring their most runs in franchise history at Wrigley Field. However, under the radar, Pallante was most proud of holding Chicago scoreless for 5 2/3 innings and allowing five hits and one walk in a 17-1 St. Louis victory. At that time, Pallante improved to 10-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.60, but the thing that mattered most to him was finally vanquishing the Cubs.

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Adversity hit in August when right-elbow inflammation sent Pallante to the 15-day injured list – the same day the Cards would lose fellow starter Hunter Dobbins to a devastating elbow injury that will knock him out most of 2027. As for Pallante, he missed two starts before returning. It was just another obstacle in a season built around refusing to allow one bad inning, outing or stretch to become his identity as a pitcher.

Pallante’s mindset improvements might prove as valuable as any mechanical corrections he’s ever made on the mound. He credited the Cardinals’ mental-skills staff for helping him understand the dangers of constantly seeking validating that he belonged in the big leagues.

“If every day you’re looking to verify or to prove that you belong in the big leagues, you’re only going to find reasons you don’t belong.”

The Cardinals now must decide what his rebound means for 2027. Pallante struggled down the stretch, but that finish likely was more a product of the team playing out the stretch of games after being eliminated. He showed again that he could be a dependable rotation piece, but one who now pitches with conviction and is no longer battling some sort of imposter’s syndrome.

“Feeling like you are the reason your team is losing is a really hard thing to go through and I wouldn’t wish anyone having to go through what I did (in 2025),” he said. “I am grateful for coming out on the other side of it and I feel like I know myself better now than I did before and I don’t ever feel like I’ll get to that (dark) place again. I’ve learned more about who I am and it’s nice now to be in this position where I can share my experiences with other guys and hopefully help them.”