Drafted in 2022 as a starter but ultimately converted to a reliever where he found Minor League success, right-handed pitcher Max Rajcic was promoted by the Cardinals on Thursday for his potential MLB debut in the coming days.

Rajcic, whose name rhymes with Magic when pronounced correctly, will be available to pitch out of the bullpen for the Cardinals on Thursday night when they face the Royals in Kansas City.

The Cardinals optioned right-handed reliever Chris Roycroft to Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day. Roycroft allowed four hits and three earned runs and threw 42 pitches in 1 1/3 innings of work in Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the Padres at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals have been working for weeks to try and fortify a bullpen that has shown numerous cracks in recent losses. The Cards are tied for the third-most saves (23) and tied for 11th in bullpen wins (16), but they also rank 17th in relievers’ ERA (4.23). The St. Louis bullpen has pitched the eight-fewest innings (259 2/3) – part of the reason that their relievers rank 26th in MLB in strikeouts (237).

Undoubtedly, they are hopeful that the hard-throwing Rajcic can bring some more swing-and-miss stuff to their bullpen.

Rajcic, who struggled in 2024 as a starter and went just 3-7 with a 4.96 ERA, was chosen by the Cardinals for promotion over reliever Luis Gastelum, who has found tremendous success this season out of the Memphis bullpen. Gastelum, 24, is 6-1 with a 2.68 ERA, five holds and three saves in 29 relief appearances with the Triple-A club.

Rajcic, 24, is 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA and five saves in 26 games with Memphis – 25 of those appearances coming in relief. In 40 2/3 innings, he struck out 46 batters and walked just 14. He has allowed five homers this season.

Drafted in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of UCLA – where he struck out 128 batters in 117 2/3 innings of work over two collegiate seasons – Rajcic was used predominantly as a starting pitcher from 2023-25. After starring at Class-A Palm Beach and High-A Peoria in 2023, Rajcic went 10-11 with a 4.33 ERA in 24 starts with Double-A Springfield in 2024. He split time between Springfield and Triple-A Memphis in 2025, but he went just 3-7 with a 4.96 ERA in 27 starts.

In 101 Minor League games, Rajcic has started 75 of them. Overall, he is 26-26 with a 3.81 ERA and 400 strikeouts in 413 innings pitched.

The Cardinals begin a three-game series against the Royals on Thursday night in Kansas City. The two teams play Thursday, Friday and Sunday and are off as Arrowhead Stadium – which sits adjacent to Kauffman Stadium – hosts the FIBA World Cup on Saturday. Matthew Liberatore (Thursday), Michael McGreevy (Friday) and Dustin May (Sunday) are scheduled to pitch for the Cardinals.  

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