With Andre Pallante and Hunter Dobbins on the 15-day Injured List with arm injuries, the Cardinals are needing to add at least one starting pitcher to avoid an innings crisis over the final 30 games. Neither the internal nor external options are very enticing.
With two starting pitchers hitting the 15-day Injured List on the same day and a third starter strategically being limited in terms of workload, the Cardinals are on a collision course for an innings crisis. And if they want to stay in the chase for the National League’s final Wild Card slot, they will likely need to address that pitching conundrum in the coming days to shore up their shrinking staff.
Whether that means promoting a starter from Triple-A Memphis or instead signing a veteran off MLB’s scrap heap, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom will have to make a call in the coming days to fortify the starting staff.
The Cards hit this dilemma when they were forced to place 12-game winner Andre Pallante on the 15-day Injured List before Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Phillies in 10 innings because of right elbow inflammation. Within a few hours, Hunter Dobbins left his start after one pitch of the fifth inning with right forearm tightness, which also necessitated a stint on the 15-day Injured List.
The Cardinals, who had Monday off before starting a three-game series against the Orioles at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night, promoted rookie left-hander Quinn Mathews to take Pallante’s scheduled start on Saturday, but he surrendered 10 hits, seven earned runs and a walk in five innings in a lopsided loss to the Phillies. Kyle Leahy, 29, pitched well on Sunday, but he was pulled after just four innings and 63 pitches because he is at 126 1/3 innings pitched – well beyond his previous career high of 88 innings mostly in relief in 2025.
Hence, the Cardinals dilemma and the innings that they need to cover over the final 30 games of the regular season. A three-game sweep at the hands of the surging Phillies (73-58) – capped by Sunday’s six-run rally with two outs in the ninth to wipe out a four-run deficit – left the Cardinals (66-66) 5 ½ games out of the final Wild Card spot in the National League race. The Cardinals have struggled just as the Padres (71-60) won three in a row, the Diamondbacks (69-62) won on Sunday, and the Marlins (67-64) strung together three straight victories.
The Cardinals don’t appear to have many internal options to promote to the big-league club. Jurrangelo Cijntje and Mason Molina were only recently promoted from Double-A to Memphis and likely won’t be promoted. Cooper Hjerpe, a first-round pick in 2022, has been dazzling in four abbreviated starts (0.60 ERA), but he is on an innings restriction after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April of 2025.
Brycen Mautz, the club’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2025, made his MLB debut on May 25 in relief after his scheduled start in Cincinnati was rained out. He surrendered four hits and two earned runs to the Brewers in three innings in his debut out of the bullpen. The 25-year-old left-hander has started 16 games this season, but not once since July 12. At Triple-A Memphis, he is 1-6 with a 3.81 ERA.
Pete Hansen, a third-round pick in 2022, has yet to make it to the big leagues. The 26-year-old left-hander has started 18 of the 21 games he’s pitched in this season with Triple-A Memphis while going 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA. He has had a solid August, going 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA in five games (two starts).
Plucking a reliable veteran out of free agency could be tricky.
Long-time Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas celebrated his 38th birthday on Sunday, and for the first time in years it wasn’t in an MLB clubhouse. The former two-time All-Star while with the Cardinals was released by the Nationals on Aug. 14 after going 3-9 with a 5.82 ERA in 25 games (11 starts). He last pitched on Aug. 11 when he allowed one earned run in three innings to the Cubs.
Mikolas, who pitched in St. Louis from 2018-25, had three consecutive rough seasons -- 9-13, 4.78 ERA in 2023, 10-11, 5.35 ERA in '24 and 8-11, 4.84 ERA in '25 -- to end his time with the Cardinals.
Michael Lorezen, 34, was released by the Rockies on Aug. 19 after surrendering 24 earned runs and five homers over his last 18 2/3 innings pitched. He allowed eight hits and two earned runs to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Aug. 9.
Zack Littell, 30, was designated for assignment by the Dbacks on Sunday – the second time he was been DFAed in August. He surrendered 25 homers in 23 games (14 starts) with he Nationals and then gave up five more long balls in three games (no starts) with Arizona.
