ST. LOUIS – While some might have found it curious that Michael McGreevy was lifted from Saturday’s three-hit gem over six scoreless innings of work against the Dodgers, the Cardinals’ talented right-hander was fully on board with the decision.

Sluggish from nearly the moment he woke up on Saturday morning and somewhat shocked with how well his stuff was working against the back-to-back champions, McGreevy totally understood being taken out of Saturday’s game after just 88 pitches. Having conveyed his concerns to pitching coach Dusty Blake and manager Oliver Marmol, McGreevy was totally fine with the club turning the game over to the bullpen in what would become a 3-2 victory.

For McGreevy, the lesson learned on Saturday – not giving in to the sluggishness in his body and still finding a way to hold the Dodgers scoreless – is one he said he will take into the rest of the 2026 season.

“This is definitely something I’m going to have to write down – how I felt in the morning and then the mindset that I told myself that I was going to stick to,” McGreevy said of twirling his best outing of the season despite his uneasiness. “I’m definitely going to have games like that again where I will think about trying a little harder and that will just get me further off track. It’s all about what I told myself, ‘Just stick to executing pitches – and whether you are 90 miles an hour or 95 – it doesn’t matter. Just execute.”

McGreevy’s magic on Saturday night is emblematic of a Cardinals team that continues to defy expectations and stack up series victories. Already this season, the young and rebuilding Cards have won series against the Rays, Mets, Guardians, Nats and Dodgers and they own impressive sweeps over the Astros and Pirates. They followed up a season-worst four-game losing streak – one that including a series sweep at the hands of the Mariners with two gut-punch losses – with a run of six straight wins coming into Sunday.

McGreevy said the team has already shown that it can not only compete with just about any team in the league, but on most nights, it will simply execute better than the opposition.

“We’ve shown that we’re going to give you hell when you play us,” said McGreevy, who improved his record to 2-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.52. “There are tons of expectations of (negative) expectations put on with what this organization looked like this offseason, and it’s been freeing for the guys to be able to just show up and play. Play hard, play fast and play the right way and the way Cardinals fans have known in the past. It’s just a very freeing feeling knowing that we just get to go out there and play ball.”

McGreevy played a high level of ball on Saturday by incredibly mixing seven different pitches to keep the Dodgers guessing. LA had just four hard-hit balls all game and McGreevy benefited greatly from Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn and standout rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt having their hands in four double plays in the game’s first five innings.

Where McGreevy’s sluggishness showed itself on Saturday was his four-seam fastball averaging just 91.5 mph – something that has been an issue all season as he’s worked to regain strength and zip on his pitches. Of the three hits he surrendered, two werte on the fastball.

McGreevy stayed away from the fastball on a 3-2 count to four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani in the sixth inning. Instead, McGreevy threw a tumbling changeup that darted down and in toward Ohtani’s back foot. It completely fooled the superstar slugger, who swung early and over the pitch.

“Not exactly where I wanted to throw it – a back-foot changeup isn’t really where I want to throw that pitch, but I was super convicted into that pitch,” said McGreevy, who struck out three on Saturday night, “To be 3-0 to one of the best hitters on the planet and one of the best hitters to ever play this game, I was, ‘Hey, big on big here and I’m going to give him a fastball (early in the count).

“But then on 3-2, I’m back to what I want to do,” McGreevy added. “I was really convicted with the changeup and I think I shook to it. I wanted it, I threw it with good conviction and I got a good result.”

Marmol loved seeing McGreevy not only pitch well, but through pain on Saturday night. He agreed that it is a lesson that McGreevy – and all Cards pitchers, really – can learn from going forward this season.

“There are times when you don’t feel well and you give in to it, and I think so much of this game is having that mental edge and not giving in, especially when everything points to that just being an easier excuse,” Marmol said. “From the second he woke up, his body felt sluggish and from his first pitch, he didn’t feel like he had it. You’re sitting there (as the manager) thinking, ‘He’s at 88 (pitches) and our bullpen has been … (shaky) and should I let him go back out there?’ But knowing how he felt from pitch one and feeling like he emptied out the tank to get through Ohtani and (Freddie) Freeman to get through the top (in the sixth inning).

“But to still navigate that lineup, knowing that he felt that way, I think the key for him was just being mentally strong enough not to give into it.”   

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