Cardinals potential trade target's recent tryout went exactly according to plan

The St. Louis Cardinals fell short on Thursday night's series opener against the Colorado Rockies, losing by a final score of 3-2.

Sonny Gray didn't last long and the offense fell flat. Cal Quantrill also kept them scoreless in his five innings of work.

Last month, when the Cardinals were recovering from a stretch that sent them to nine games under the .500 mark, Scott Neville of Sports Illustrated predicted that St. Louis could actually target Quantrill at the deadline if they stay afloat in a weak National League.

If he is indeed a trade target for St. Louis, then he certainly made a good first impression.

Potential Cardinals target Cal Quantrill performs well in head-to-head meeting

Quantrill allowed just three hits and worked around four walks, recording a strikeout in his five innings and also recording the win, his fifth of the year.

Granted, if the Cardinals want to be serious contenders, they're going to need a top-level starter, someone better than Quantrill. However, the fifth spot in their starting rotation is currently in flux with Steven Matz out.

The Cardinals had gone back and forth with left-hander Matthew Liberatore and recently inserted Andre Pallante into the fifth spot. However, neither one of those options has performed very well, so Quantrill would at least give them certainty if they want to make a move now before Matz returns.

He could even take the fifth spot from Matz entirely and force the Cardinals to move the latter to the bullpen, where he had performed quite well last season.

Quantrill wouldn't come at a significant cost as more of a back-end starter and could be plugged into St. Louis's rotation right away. With Colorado already out of contention, it might make sense for them to trade him soon.

Quantrill is the son of former MLB pitcher Paul Quantrill. He began his career with the Cleveland Guardians before being traded to Colorado last offseason. The right-hander is also only 29, and St. Louis has an aging rotation, so a little youth in the starting five certainly wouldn't hurt as they try to piece things together for the rest of the season and determine if they'll be a true contender.

In 13 starts, the veteran right-hander is 5-4 with a 3.58 ERA and has struck out 51 batters over 73 innings of work. For his career, he is 40-27 with a 3.80 ERA in 145 total appearances. Another possibility could be former Cardinal Austin Gomber.