St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Kyle Leahy strengthened his case for an Opening Day rotation spot on Saturday by tossing four dominant innings against the New York Mets in Grapefruit League action.

Leahy gave up no runs, no hits and no walks while striking out five. He tossed 47 pitches, 32 of which were for strikes. The 28-year-old does have a 5.19 ERA across 8.2 spring innings, but he's getting stronger as we approach Opening Day.

Let's take a look at his situation a little deeper.

A 17th-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2018 Draft out of Colorado Mesa, Leahy has pitched in three major league seasons (2023-25). He's gone 5-4 in his career with a 3.64 ERA. He made 62 appearances last season, with 61 of them coming out of the bullpen. He was 4-2 with a 3.07, also registering 18 holds. He was one of the better bullpen options for Oli Marmol, so if he does earn a rotation spot, the loss of a bullpen arm will be notable. 

St. Louis will rely on Ryne Stanek, JoJo Romero and Riley O'Brien in the bullpen, especially if Leahy exits for the rotation.

With less than three weeks to go until Opening Day, it's fairly clear that, barring injury, both Dustin May and Matthew Liberatore will be in the Opening Day rotation, as will Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy. Beyond that, Leahy is battling with the likes of Richard Fitts and Quinn Mathews for the No. 5 spot. Mathews struck out seven in an impressive outing on Thursday.

--Top prospect Joshua Baez, who is one of six Cardinals prospects in the MLB Pipeline Top 100, homered for the second consecutive day on Saturday. He's angling for an early promotion to the big leagues in 2026.

--Speaking of prospects, the Cardinals, were given a healthy grade from MLB Pipeline for the overall totality of the farm system. After solid returns in trades for Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, the Cardinals now have the No. 4-ranked system in the sport. That doesn't necessarily help fans feel better about the team's organizational rebuild, but it does provide some optimism for the future.

--As for May, he impressed in his outing the other day, posting an average fastball velocity of greater than 97 mph. He averaged just over 95 mph a season ago with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.

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