Cardinals predictions: What rotation will look like after trade deadline
The St. Louis Cardinals made moves to improve their pitching staff that will dramatically alter their starting rotation.
Going into the trade deadline season, the Cardinals let it be known they want to improve their pitching staff that had fallen victim to the injury bug.
John Mozeliak, Cardinals president of baseball operations, made moves to trade for a couple of middle-rotation guys in Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery that will allow the rotation to have some flexibility as Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz recover from their injuries.
Flaherty is on the 60-day injured list to ongoing issues with his shoulder. While he’s thrown some light sessions, he may not be ready to return until late August – early September. Steven Matz has made some progress on his leg after hitting the injured list with an MCL tear.
According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Steven Matz learned that the healing has progressed in left knee. He has complete tear of his MCL, but because of how the healing has gone so far he is hopeful to avoid surgery — and may even start some light catch to keep arm strong this weekend. He’s encouraged. #stlcards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) August 2, 2022
It will probably be awhile before we see them back in the rotation.
With the additions of Quintana and Montgomery, the Cardinals do not have to rush to get Flaherty or Matz back, thus risking their health.
With these moves, what does the Cardinals rotation look like now?
While there will ultimately be a battle for the fifth spot in the rotation between Dakota Hudson and Andre Pallante, they could have a piggyback situation with an opener being Hudson with the remainder of the innings taken care of by Pallante.
For the season, Hudson has a record of 6-6 in 19 games and 101 innings. He has 54 strikeouts. The 23-year-old, Pallante, is 4-4 in 10 games started for the Cardinals in his rookie season. In his last start, he was impressive going eight innings, giving up five hits and a walk, while striking out eight batters. He has an ERA of 3.18 and 59 strikeouts.
It should be interesting to see which of these two will win out for the fifth rotation spot or if they join forces in a piggyback start.