Three batters into his final start of May for Class AAA Memphis, Cardinals prospect Michael McGreevy already had thrown 22 pitches before he coaxed a second out, and he was about to load the bases by allowing a line-drive single on a slider, his 23rd pitch. His next five pitches in a stressful, compounding first inning would come with the bases loaded.
Within a few months, McGreevy would reach the majors as a revelation, challenging big-league lineups with a new pitch and beginning his audition to be part of the Cardinals鈥 2025 rotation.
But not yet, not on May 29 against Nashville in Memphis. The majors seemed far away as the right-hander stood in the midst of a taxed pitch count, packed bases, and an ERA inflating toward 6.00, still in the first inning. Nashville emptied the bases with a triple on McGreevy鈥檚 28th pitch. On his 30th pitch, he got that second out as another run scored.
When he left the mound, with the Redbirds trailing 4-0 before taking a swing, McGreevy was at least certain of one thing. He would get the innings to get better.
鈥淚t gave me confidence that, OK, we鈥檙e going to work on some things, and I know they鈥檙e going to leave me out there,鈥 McGreevy said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 facing some trouble right now? He鈥檚 got to get through it right now because up here (in St. 不良研究所导航网址) if he gets into some traffic, we have to trust him, trust he鈥檚 developed the right way. So, we鈥檙e going to give the opportunity to compete and get through it, and if I do 鈥 all that development paid off. But if I鈥檓 not ready for that and I just implode, I lose my poise and I lose control, and a runners-on-base situation speeds up then they鈥檙e like, 鈥榃hat was he doing in Triple-A?鈥 Was he just getting babied and coddled and at the first sign of trouble did they pull him?
鈥淚 was able to learn,鈥 he concluded, 鈥渇rom opportunity.鈥
A statistic the Cardinals chased in 2024 made that a priority.
Changing outlook
For several seasons, the Cardinals鈥 once-robust pitching development has received external scrutiny, and this season it underwent internal auditing to determine how it slipped behind the industry鈥檚 modern approach and results. In the year before he takes over baseball operations for 2026 and beyond, Cardinals ownership has empowered Chaim Bloom to make changes to the minor-league infrastructure starting yesterday. Ownership has promised investment in tech, facilities and staff to catch up.
The Cardinals are strides behind their rivals in key areas, but they identified this season a step in the right direction they could take with pitchers. Entering the season, the organization set an internal goal of leading the minors in starter innings, retiring farm director Gary LaRocque told the Post-Dispatch.
The purpose was to give prospects more time to work on pitches, more time to work through turbulence and more exposure to learn how to face hitters multiple times. While they sought bigger solutions for the future, this was a tangible goal within reach. An added benefit, one that could regain an edge for the Cardinals in a few years, is conditioning young talents to pitch deeper into games now so they鈥檙e ready if (or when) Major League Baseball adopts discussed rules to require longer appearances from starters.
鈥淲e made it clear we were not going to take them out,鈥 LaRocque said. 鈥淭hey needed innings to develop. They needed to be on the mound to do that. That was the game plan throughout the minor-league level. We did a few things to create that and make sure they understood this throughout the full-season affiliates: We鈥檙e going to develop starters, and that means they鈥檙e going to pitch.鈥
Stretching it out
The Cardinals met that goal. They led all clubs with starter innings at the top four minor-league levels, Class A through Class AAA.
The rotations at Memphis (AAA), Springfield (AA), Peoria (A+), and Palm Beach combined to throw 2,630鈪 innings, edging Arizona for the overall minor-league lead, based on research by the Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals had more than 300 innings from their starters than any other National League Central team at the top four levels. The Cardinals still must gain ground when it comes to velocity, strikeouts, and cutting-edge systems in the minors to workshop and improve pitch profiles. But the bulk they chased, they got.
On their way to the Florida State League championship, the Class A Palm Beach Cardinals鈥 rotation led the FSL in starter innings (635鈪) and ERA (2.89). The Cardinals鈥 High-A affiliate, in Peoria, Illinois, also led in starter innings. McGreevy and teammate Gordon Graceffo were two of only 15 pitchers to throw at least 130 innings at Class AAA. Quinn Mathews, Baseball America鈥檚 pitcher of the year, threw 143鈪 innings over four levels and became the first lefty in Minor League Baseball in more than a decade to strike out more than 200 batters.
The Cardinals had 14 minor-league pitchers make at least 20 starts, including lauded prospect Tink Hence, who struck out 109 but had his innings limited to 79鈪 because of injuries. The Cardinals led all NL clubs with 15 minor-league pitchers who threw at least 100 innings. The Cardinals had 24 pitchers throw at least 80 innings 鈥 one did mostly reliever as a reliever 鈥 and no other NL club had more than 20.
鈥淪o a big part of this is the learning opportunity there on how hitters adjust to a second and third time through鈥 the opponent鈥檚 lineup, Cardinals pitching coach Dusty Blake said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just real. 鈥 You learn more. You find out more. You find out that once you get to pitch 80 it鈥檚 hard for you to get your breaking stuff down so here is the adjustment to make sure if you鈥檝e got to beat this guy a third time, you can get this pitch down. You find you fly open a little bit more, so here is how you stay connected. There are ancillary pieces that you continue to learn and adapt with workload.
鈥淵ou find out about yourself as you experience some fatigue,鈥 he continued. 鈥淗ow do you keep competing and making pitches to give you that best chance?鈥
While the minor-league level lagged in recent years, the Cardinals believe their big-league pitching approach took a significant lunge forward in the past season. The big-league club benefited from access to tech, coaches, and other apparatus of the modern game.
But it didn鈥檛 act independent of the minors.
Communication lines open
This year, Blake and his staff held monthly calls with coaches at the highest levels of the Cardinals鈥 farm system and roving instructors such as Jason Isringhausen. The calls were monthly because Blake didn鈥檛 want 鈥渢o start having meetings about meetings.鈥
In those conversations, the Cardinals鈥 big-league coaches got to describe what they were doing above that could be adopted or help development below. The Cardinals鈥 bullpen, for example, entered the final series of the season leading the majors in first-pitch strikes, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 not something that is a fluke,鈥 Blake said. That was an identity the bullpen sought. The Cardinals, as a staff, led the National League in percentage of first-pitch strikes (64.3%) and the mechanisms of that success can spread through the system. There were other discussions about pitch usage and approach that could be worked on in the minors so it鈥檚 not new arriving in the majors.
鈥淢aking that transition as seamless as possible 鈥 you don鈥檛 want to get to the highest level and the best competition with the biggest crowds and the biggest spotlight and feel like you have to change something that you鈥檙e doing or there鈥檚 a new area you have to learn,鈥 Blake said. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e working on up here we鈥檙e talking about so we can help that become a practice throughout. (For example), making sure that we鈥檙e using the best pitches the most. Hey, this guy has a great pitch and we鈥檙e using it 10%-15% of the time, so are we really using it the most? In general, we need to be sure that we know how to use our best weapon and then to be great at what we鈥檙e good at.鈥
Individually speaking
There also were individual examples of how pitchers got better.
The Cardinals wanted reliever Ryan Fernandez to regain the vertical break on his fastball and adjusted his mechanics to make that possible and more consistent. The rookie emerged as a late-inning factor. Matthew Liberatore pocketed his curveball as the slider became sharper, fiercer in a relief role. Kyle Gibson鈥檚 sweeper saw an uptick in swings and misses, rising to better than 20%.
And perhaps most impactful of all, Andre Pallante developed a sinker that gave him something with which to challenge right-handed batters. He went from a struggling reliever to one of the Cardinals鈥 most consistent starters in less than two months.
鈥淲hen we talk about development, I feel like our pitchers have taken a real step forward in real time at the highest level,鈥 manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淔rom my seat, taking a step back and removing the wins and losses and just looking at progress organizationally, that is a high point. It鈥檚 sustainable and it鈥檚 a process that I feel like we can replicate moving forward beyond this level.鈥
In other words, the next step is to have it seep deeper into the roots.
In areas the Cardinals aim to improve overall, they had individual prospects do so. Mathews had the second-best strikeout rate in the minors (35.4%). A total of 102 pitchers in the minors had at least 100 innings and a strikeout-per-nine rate of 9.40 or greater. The Cardinals had seven, and only Baltimore had more (nine). The Cardinals鈥 group included 22-year-old righty Chen-Wei Lin (9.54) at Class A Palm Beach and 21-year-old Darlin Saladin (9.60) at High-A Peoria.
At the highest affiliate, Memphis, a task McGreevy had was to develop a pitch that challenged left-handed batters. The Cardinals encouraged a cut fastball and the right-hander 鈥渄abbled with it鈥 in spring, a coach said. He threw it in bullpen sessions, same as Pallante did with the sinker he wanted to add. Tech provided feedback on the depth, break, perceived velocity, and spin of their pitches to help shape the effectiveness. But what both required to get a grasp of the new pitch was the laboratory of competition, at full speed 鈥 a game.
They needed innings.
The Cardinals鈥 emphasis made sure they got them.
McGreevy would pitch through the rocky first inning and get into the fifth despite allowing nine runs in that May 29 loss to Nashville. A few weeks earlier, he allowed eight runs by the second inning 鈥 and then authored back-to-back quality starts, one of eight innings and 11 strikeouts. Each time he rebounded with a stretch of sturdy outings and got a better feel for his new pitch. By the end of July, he made his major-league debut with seven innings and a win. He threw the cutter 10% of the time in the majors and held lefties to a .206 average.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e five and dive and you鈥檙e out of there,鈥 McGreevy said of throwing five innings and no more, 鈥渢hen you鈥檙e preparing to be a long reliever, I think. As a starter, you have to save the bullpen, and you have to learn that. It gives you confidence when you work through things.鈥
Positive signs
The returns on the innings initiative were encouraging from a health and results perspective, LaRocque said. Complete results will take time to review. The Cardinals acknowledge it meant fewer innings for relievers at lower levels, and they鈥檒l watch how that develops.
鈥淲e鈥檙e further along on the positive scale,鈥 LaRocque said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about what鈥檚 ahead.鈥
As they pursue modernizing their pitching development and scaling-up improvements, the Cardinals got exactly what they set out to promise their prospects.
It鈥檚 a start.