The St. Louis Cardinals made it back to .500 thanks to the Colorado Rockies being in town and did so with the help of Kyle Leahy. A quick hook (5 innings) for Leahy brought up some questions with him only having thrown 82 pitches, but Jeff Jones dove into the workload topic for the rest of us.
Thanks to Jones’ reporting, we know that Leahy is on some type of an innings limit in his first year of starting and he is unlikely to be the only one on some restrictions. With 112.1 innings, he is third on the team behind Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy, who are also nearing the mid-100s of frames this season. Pallante has maxed out at 162.2 and McGreevy hit 153 last season, so the workhorses have done their job in this transition year.
An innings limit may not be needed for the Cardinals this season
After Matthew Liberatore’s latest bummer of a start, the demand for a move to the bullpen has increased in volume and aggression. In getting the loss against the miserable Rockies, Liberatore moved to 5-9 with a 5.15 ERA on the season. For the Opening Day starter, a total bummer. With 113.2 innings pitched on the season, Libby is on pace to slightly exceed his 2025 total unless a move to the bullpen is in order. There is one starter who does not need an innings limit, but rather a demotion due to inconsistent performance. Enter Quinn Mathews into that spot?
The other four spots in the rotation are filled by Pallante, McGreevy, Leahy, and Hunter Dobbins. Dobbins is two seasons removed from a 125 inning season and has worked just over 100 innings between the majors and minors. The first two rotation options, in my opinion, have no reason to have a cap on their pitching this year. That leaves Leahy, who is on track to double his workload in his first year in the rotation.
Leahy has matched or exceeded Pallante in most stats, trailing in the wins and ERA categories but meeting or beating him in others. All that comes in yet another attempt for the Cardinals to move one of their trusted bullpen arms to the starting rotation rather than spend on the market, and the results have been solid if unspectacular. For the 29-year-old, the transition to the rotation has come along well after some bumps in the early part of the season.
I added the age not to be mean, but to add context into my next point being: Why does Kyle Leahy need an innings limit?
As a 35-year-old who can sometimes lift his arm over his head, I am in no way saying that Leahy is on the back nine of his career as a major league baseball player. He has shown that he has the ability to fill a role in most any pitching staff in an effective way. As Leahy enters his first season of arbitration, he has pitched his way into a solid salary track for the next few seasons of his major league career, assuming he remains healthy.
His durability has been spectacular, not hitting the injured list at any point during his professional career according to MLB’s transaction page. After being driven to the ground with 62 appearances last season and another 22 starts so far this year, Leahy has proven his worth to major league managers and deserves to get another full season of work.
Also working into that thought is that, besides Mathews, who else is there to take Leahy’s spot in those skipped starts? One answer is Brycen Mautz, but he has been working in the bullpen and been mostly effective as a relief option. Not sure if you’ve tuned into some big league games this second half, but the relief corps needs some help. After Mautz, the starting options are fine, but it may be too early to expect Jurrangelo Cijtnje, Pete Hansen, or Mason Molina to jump to the bigs, even in a spot start.
Tekoah Roby has been nearing full health and Cooper Hjerpe has looked solid in his rehab and progressed up to Triple-A. Out of those two, Hjerpe would be my choice to get a shot at the bigs, but only as a relief option despite working as a starter in his return from injury. For now, the fifth or sixth rotation spot looks to be an opener or bullpen game with Hjerpe or Mautz working in a short stint and another arm providing a look in bulk relief. To me, that does not do much for me in a rebuild season.
Mautz probably should and will get another start or two before the end of the season, but another long audition spot is not really showing up for anyone else to get an extended look. While it was already announced that Leahy will get his starts skipped or shortened, I guess I do not really see the point.
In other news, the vibe was a bummer at the game last night. I made the trip down since school starts Monday and hoped to see an energized offense agains the Rockies. Instead, I got 11 men left on base and a five-run start from Libby. At least I got my hands on Jordan Walker’s home run ball and I promise I’m giving it to a kid (my Walker superfan nephew) despite some ugly looks from some bleacher fans.
As far as Cardinals on My Time goes, I hope to be back on a semi-regular posting schedule shortly. School starts again Monday (gross) so I will actually somehow have more time with a consistent schedule. Thanks for all the support here and on socials as the season comes to a close.
Thanks as always.
