Cardinals Pitching Prospect Shines in Return from Tommy John Surgery

Pitching in a game for the first time in 456 days, right-hander Tekoah Roby used his nerves and time off to super-charge his velocity and remind everyone again why he is one of the top prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals’ Minor League system.

Roby, 25, missed all the 2026 Minor League season after undergoing Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow. Prior to taking the mound on Friday for Arizona Fall League action, Roby last pitched in a game on July 10, 2025.

Not only did Roby pitch three scoreless innings and strike out six batters on Friday for the Peoria (Ariz.) Javelinas, but his four-seam fastball touched 98.7 mph during his outing.

Roby, who spent the 2026 season rehabilitating his surgically repaired right elbow at the Cardinals’ Spring Training facility in Jupiter, Fla., predicted recently that his command should be better after so many months of being intentional about hitting his targets on throws while working his way back. That proved true on Friday as 30 of his 40 pitches were strikes.

Peoria, which has nine Cardinals’ prospects on its roster, got some run support for Roby with a run in the first, two in the second and seven more runs in the sixth and seventh innings for a 10-4 defeat of Surprise. Cardinals' outfield prospect Tai Peete, who had a three-hit, three-steal game earlier in the week, went 1 for 4 to put his AFL batting average at .412.

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Acquired from the Rangers in the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline deal that centered around left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery, Roby broke through as a prospect during the 2025 Minor League season. After 10 starts at Double-A Springfield (4-2, 2.49 ERA) and six at Triple-A Memphis (3-2, 4.02), Roby appeared to be on the doorstep of getting a big-league call-up for what would have been his MLB debut. He had struck out 87 hitters over 78 1/3 innings pitched before injuring his elbow.

On Friday, pitching in a game again for the first time in 15 months, Roby featured to same sort of promise by beautifully mixing his four-seam fastball, slider, curveball and cutter. He opened the game by getting Tyreese Turner looking with an 85.7 mph curveball.

In the second inning, Roby got Aroon Escobar and Luke Hill with breaking balls – Escobar on an 83.9 curveball and Hill on an 86.3 mph slider.

Then, with Roby fully aware of the strict pitch-count limits he was working under, the 6-foot-1 right-hander poured his all into the third inning. He used another curveball to get Kehden Hettiger to strike out swinging and blew a 96.7 mph four-seam fastball to fan Angeibel Gomez for the second out of the inning. His final pitch was another four-seam fastball – this one at 96.8 mph – to punch out Turner a second time to end his six-strikeout afternoon.

Roby’s 15 four-seam fastballs featured an average velocity of 97 mph, while his sliders registered at 87.5 mph. His 11 curveballs showed plenty of vertical break and had an average velocity of 82.7 mph.