Cade Winquest, who was promoted from Triple-A Memphis by the Cardinals, is hoping that his MLB debut will come soon. A Rule 5 pick by the Yankees last December, the 25-year-old reliever made New York's Opening Day roster but never got into a game before getting released and returned to the Cards.
Experience, however, has taught Winquest to not automatically assume that that special day will be materializing for him.
Winquest, an eight-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Cardinals, saw his career take a detour through New York last winter and spring when the Yankees claimed him in the 2025 Rule 5 Draft.
After spending three seasons in the Cardinals’ Minor League system, Winquest made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster, and he warmed up in the team’s bullpen during several games. However, he never got into a game for his MLB debut before the Yankees designated him for assignment on April 10 when starter Luis Gil returned from injury.
Because Winquest was a Rule 5 claim by the Yankees, they were required to offer him back to the Cardinals upon his release. Winquest officially returned to the Cardinals three days later and he was reassigned to Triple-A Memphis.
Winquest, who is 3-1 with a 4.54 ERA in 33 relief appearances this season with Memphis, was promoted to replace reliever Peter Strzelecki, who was placed on the 15-day Injured List with flexor tendon inflammation in his right forearm. Strzelecki’s IL date is retroactive to Wednesday – a night after he hurriedly warmed up and threw 31 pitches in relief of struggling starter Matthew Liberatore in a 13-1 loss to the Orioles.
Strzelecki, 31, picked up his first win in three years last Thursday in Cincinnati. He is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in eight relief appearances for the Cardinals this season.
Strzelecki is the fourth Cardinals pitcher to go on the IL this season with arm injuries, joining 12-game winner Andre Pallante (right elbow inflammation), Hunter Dobbins (right forearm tightness) and Max Rajcic (elbow surgery). The Cardinals went all of 2025 and most of 2026 without suffering an arm injury to a starting pitcher, but they were hit particularly hard by the losses of Pallante and Dobbins on the same day last Friday.
Lefty-hander Quinn Mathews was promoted from Triple-A Memphis to take Pallante’s start last Saturday, but he was hit hard by the Phillies in an outing where he pitched five innings and surrendered 10 hits, seven earned runs and a walk. Matthews (0-2, 6.43 ERA in three starts) is scheduled to start Friday’s game against the Pirates at Busch Stadium.
Winquest showed off the kind of power stuff that made him appealing to the Yankees by striking out 57 in just 39 2/3 innings this season with Triple-A Memphis. He walked just 14, but surrendered four Triple-A homers.
In four Minor League seasons -- all with the Cardinals -- Winquest is 11-17 with a 4.24 ERA in 91 games (38 starts). In 252 1/3 innings worked, he struck out 276 batters, and he held the opposition to .240 hitting.
