Cubs Claim Luis Peralta From Cardinals
The Cubs have claimed left-hander Luis Peralta off the Cardinals’ waiver wire, according to Taylor McGregor of the Marquee Sports Network. St. Louis designated Peralta for assignment on Friday. Peralta has been optioned to Triple-A Iowa, and a 40-man roster move wasn’t require since the Cubs only had 39 players on their 40-man.
It’s the second time in less than a week that Peralta has changed teams via the waiver wire. He was designated for assignment by the Rockies on April 21 and was claimed by the Cardinals on Monday, only for the Cards to return Peralta to DFA limbo when a 40-man roster spot was needed to select Jared Shuster‘s contract from Triple-A.
Peralta’s tenure in St. Louis ends without even a minor league appearance, so his 2026 numbers remain just the ugly 17.18 ERA he posted over six appearances and 7 1/3 innings for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate. Peralta has a 10.26 ERA over 43 career Triple-A innings, with the caveat that he has worked only in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
The southpaw’s time in the majors hasn’t been much better. Peralta had an impressive 0.73 ERA across 12 1/3 innings after he made his MLB debut with Colorado in 2024, but he came back to earth with a 9.47 ERA in 19 frames of work in 2025. Peralta allowed six homers in that 19-inning sample, with more walks (18) than strikeouts (16).
Control has been a persistent issue for Peralta throughout his career, and the problem worsened to the tune of 13 walks allowed over his 7 1/3 innings in Albuquerque this year. Despite his strong strikeout numbers, it will be hard for Peralta to stick even as minor league bullpen depth if he can’t get the ball over the plate.
Chicago becomes the latest team to see if it can solve Peralta’s control woes, and any kind of extra arms are helpful given how the Cubs have six relievers currently on the injured list. Left-handers Caleb Thielbar and Riley Martin are among that sextet, so Peralta can add some depth behind the bullpen’s current southpaw pairing of Hoby Milner and Ryan Rolison.
Lars Nootbaar To Begin Rehab Assignment Soon
The Cardinals have gotten out to a surprisingly good start, with a 19-13 record entering play today. That’s mostly due to their offense, which ranks sixth in the Majors with a 107 team wRC+. A key contributor to that offense is making progress on his rehab. Outfielder Lars Nootbaar is set to begin a rehab assignment the week of May 10, according to manager Oli Marmol (link via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat).
Nootbaar has started 2026 on the injured list. He underwent surgery in October to address Haglund’s deformities in both of his heels, which may have kept the rebuilding Cardinals from seriously pursuing a trade. The club likely hoped Nootbaar would be healthy for the start of the year and make himself a trade candidate come July. He did not progress as hoped, though. Nootbaar did not appear in any Spring Training games and instead landed on the 60-day IL on March 25. Assuming a full 20-day rehab assignment, he could return in early June in the best-case scenario.
Nootbaar had a 114 wRC+ or better in every year from 2022-24. Although he missed significant time due to injuries, he was still good enough for 7.4 fWAR in that span. Unfortunately, Nootbaar took a step back in 2025. He reached a career high with 583 plate appearances, but the result was a line of .234/.325/.361 and a 96 wRC+, his first below-average mark in a full season. On defense, Nootbaar spent most of his time in left field and regressed to -4 Outs Above Average, showing diminished range but above-average arm strength. In the perfect world, St. Louis would see Nootbaar resume his regular role after two months on the IL and post above-average offense as he did from 2022-24.
In Nootbaar’s absence, the Cardinals’ outfield has been a mixed bag. The surprise breakout of Jordan Walker accounts for a lot of their production so far. After posting well-below-average numbers in 2024-25, Walker has a staggering 166 wRC+ and nine home runs through 134 plate appearances in 2026. He is also batting an unsustainable .394 on balls in play, so some regression is inevitable. Nathan Church and Victor Scott II occupy left and center field at present. Church has been below-average (91 wRC+), while Scott has been downright dreadful (30 wRC+). Both are young players with options remaining, though Scott is the more likely demotion when Nootbaar returns given his total lack of offense.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
Cardinals Designate Luis Peralta For Assignment
The Cardinals designated lefty Luis Peralta for assignment Friday, the team announced. His 40-man roster spot goes to fellow southpaw Jared Shuster, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Memphis. The Cards opened an active roster spot by optioning righty Hunter Dobbins to Triple-A following yesterday’s season debut.
St. Louis only claimed Peralta off waivers out of the Rockies organization three days ago. He’s yet to even pitch in a game in their system and will now be in limbo for up to a week as he awaits the outcome of this morning’s DFA. The Cardinals will have five days to either trade Peralta or place him back on outright waivers. Since outright waivers are a 48-hour process, it could take up to seven days for a resolution.
The 25-year-old Peralta has pitched in parts of two big league seasons, both with the Rockies. He’s logged 31 1/3 MLB frames and been charged with 21 earned runs (6.03 ERA) on 33 hits, 23 walks and four hit batters. He’s fanned 30 of his 150 opponents. Peralta is effectively a two-pitch reliever, working off a four-seamer that averages 94.7 mph and a curveball that sits 81.7 mph. He mixes in an extremely occasional mid-80s changeup; only two percent of his MLB pitches have been changeups.
Peralta had a huge 2024 season in the minors, logging a pristine 0.94 ERA with a 40.1% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate in 47 2/3 innings across three minor league levels. He’s been hit hard and missed time with a hip injury over the two subsequent seasons. If the Cardinals can succeed in passing him through waivers, he’ll have to head back to Triple-A Memphis, as he lacks the prior outright or three years of MLB service time needed to reject an outright assignment to the minors. He’s already been claimed once and has a pair of minor league options remaining, however, so it’s possible another club will scoop him up.
Shuster has already had one stint with the Cards this season. The 27-year-old pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed two runs before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment to Memphis.
A former first-round pick by the Braves, Shuster has pitched in parts of four major league seasons without much success. He owns a lifetime 5.26 ERA in 145 1/3 innings and has posted strikeout and walk rates that are both worse than league average. He’s been tagged for nine earned runs in 9 2/3 Triple-A frames this season.
It could very well be another short stay on the roster for Shuster. The Cardinals needed a fresh arm in the bullpen after Dobbins was chased in the fifth inning yesterday. They needed five relievers to get through the rest of the game. All five threw at least 15 pitches. Ryne Stanek and JoJo Romero have both pitched on consecutive days and combined for 37 and 38 pitches, respectively. The Cards would probably prefer to stay away from either, if possible.
Cardinals Claim Luis Peralta
The Cardinals have claimed left-hander Luis Peralta off waivers from the Rockies, according to announcements from both clubs. Colorado designated him for assignment last week. The Cards had an open 40-man spot and have optioned Peralta to Triple-A Memphis, so no corresponding moves are necessary.
Peralta, 25, is the younger brother of Freddy Peralta. The younger sibling was a starter earlier in his career but got moved to a relief role when he was a minor leaguer with the Pirates. He showed tremendous promise in that role in 2024, the year he was traded to the Rockies in a one-for-one swap for Jalen Beeks.
Between the two clubs, he tossed 47 2/3 minor league innings that year, allowing only 0.94 earned runs per nine. He did give out walks at a high rate of 11.2% but his 40.1% strikeout rate was massive and his 48.8% ground ball rate above average as well. He also got to make his big league debut and put up a 0.73 ERA in 12 1/3 innings.
Things have been going downhill since then, however. He had a 9.47 ERA in the majors last year and a 9.09 ERA at the Triple-A level. For Albuquerque, his 28% strikeout rate was still pretty good but his 15.4% walk rate way too high. In the majors, things were even worse, as his ghastly 17.8% walk rate was higher than his 15.8% strikeout rate. He began 2026 back at Triple-A but but allowed 14 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings while walking 13 opponents.
His velocity is down a bit as well. His four-seamer averaged 95 miles per hour in 2024 but dropped about half a tick last year and is now down to 93.5 miles per hour so far in 2026. His curveball and changeup have had similar drops.
The Rockies eventually gave up. Perhaps that’s because the new front office is less enamored of Peralta but it’s hard to fault them when looking at Peralta’s recent numbers. For the Cards, despite a 14-13 record at the moment, they have long planned for 2026 to be an evaluation year. They are less focused on immediate contention and more worried about long-term development.
They’ve had an open roster spot since Jared Shuster was designated for assignment two weeks ago. They are using that today to grab Peralta. Obviously, Peralta’s stock is down at the moment, but the Cards will see if there’s a path to getting him back to that 2024 form. Peralta can be optioned for the remainder of this year and one additional season as well. If things click, he has less than a year of service time, meaning he could be affordably controlled for years into the future.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Cardinals To Activate Hunter Dobbins On Thursday
The Cardinals are three games into a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, and this busy schedule has presented an opening for Hunter Dobbins to make his Cards debut. Manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that Dobbins will be called up from Triple-A, where he is pitching on a rehab assignment, to make a spot start on Thursday when the Cardinals wrap up their four-game series with the Pirates.
Thursday’s game will mark Dobbins’ first appearance in a St. Louis uniform, and his first MLB outing since he tore his right ACL during a fielding play last July 11 when Dobbins was still pitching with the Red Sox. Between that season-ending injury and an elbow strain that kept him on the injured list for three weeks, Dobbins’ first Major League season was limited to 61 innings.
The right-hander had a respectable 4.13 ERA and a solid 6.6% walk rate, though his strikeout and whiff rates were well below average. Between the ACL tear and the fact that the Sox had several other young pitchers ahead of Dobbins on the depth chart, Dobbins was one of three pitchers dealt to St. Louis in December in exchange for Willson Contreras. Prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita were more long-term projects, but in Dobbins, the Cardinals landed a big league-ready starter who was ready to contribute in 2026 once his ACL rehab was complete.
Over five Triple-A starts this season, Dobbins has a 4.37 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate, and 9.4% walk rate in 22 2/3 innings. The end of his 30-day rehab period lines up well with this extended stretch of games for the Cardinals, so Dobbins can fit right into the rotation for at least one turn.
As expected for a rebuilding team’s pitching staff, the Cardinals haven’t gotten much out of their rotation to date. Michael McGreevy‘s elite walk rate has carried him to strong results despite one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball, but Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, Andre Pallante, and Kyle Leahy have all struggled to varying degrees. Dobbins may not be viewed as a front-of-the-rotation type, but a good showing on Thursday would both achieve some peace of mind for the righty after his long rehab, and likely earn him more starts down the road.
NL Central Notes: Jones, Lodolo, Trevino, Pages
A little over 11 months after undergoing an internal brace surgery, Jared Jones is slated to begin a minor league rehab assignment on Wednesday with the Pirates‘ low-A affiliate in Bradenton. Pirates GM Ben Cherington made the announcement on his weekly radio show, telling MLB.com’s Jason Mackey that Jones has “passed all the physical checks. He pitched in an extended game last week [and] was up to 100 mph. He has the velocity and has been recovering well. Now he has to get back into that routine of being a pitcher and getting outs.”
While Paul Skenes naturally garnered most of the headlines in 2024, Jones also made his big league debut that season and posted a 4.14 ERA over 121 2/3 innings and 22 starts. He hasn’t been able to follow up on that solid rookie campaign due to elbow problems that surfaced late in Spring Training 2025, though Jones was able to avoid a full Tommy John surgery. The shorter timeline usually associated with an internal brace procedure means that Jones is on track to return to Pittsburgh by late May or early June, if all goes well in his rehab. Interestingly, Mackey floated the idea that Jones could be used as a piggyback starter or even as a reliever if the Buccos want to limit his innings in his return from major surgery, as the Pirates’ rotation is strong enough at the moment that Jones isn’t necessarily needed for starting duty right away.
More from the NL Central…
- Nick Lodolo recorded seven strikeouts and allowed only two hits over five scoreless innings and 51 pitches for high-A Dayton in the first start of the Reds southpaw’s latest rehab assignment. Lodolo has yet to pitch in the majors this season due to blister problems that arose during Spring Training, and more blisters cut short his first rehab start with Dayton back on April 2. A few more weeks of recovery may have finally gotten the problem under control, though the extra time away means Lodolo will need another rehab start or two to build up his arm strength. Despite a lack of hitting and the absence of top starters Lodolo and Hunter Greene, the Reds weathered the storm to post an 18-10 record in their first 28 games.
- The Reds also activated catcher Jose Trevino from the 10-day injured list prior to today’s game with the Tigers, and catcher P.J. Higgins was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move. A thoracic spine strain has kept Trevino out of action since April 4. Now in his second season with the Reds, Trevino will resume his duties as a glove-first backup behind starting catcher Tyler Stephenson.
- Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages left Saturday’s game due to left hamstring tightness, but Pages told media (including Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that he is day to day after scans revealed no substantive damage. “Everything’s intact from the hamstring. It’s just more swelling in the area, which is fine. I just got to flush it out and be ready to go,” Pages said. The backstop didn’t play today but believed he could be ready Monday when the Cardinals open a series in Pittsburgh. Though the Cards don’t have an off-day until May 11, they have the catching depth to afford Pages extra rest time if necessary since Ivan Herrera and Yohel Pozo are both on the active roster. Known more for his glove than his bat, Pages has a respectable 101 wRC+ (from a .250/.310/.404 slash line) over his first 59 plate appearances.
Richard Fitts Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery
Cardinals right-hander Richard Fitts has undergone season-ending surgery to address the lat strain that recently landed him on the minor league injured list. President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom gave the news to Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
It’s an unfortunate development for Fitts for a few reasons. Fitts made 15 big league appearances with the Red Sox over the previous two seasons. He was traded to the Cardinals as part of the Sonny Gray trade. Going from a contender to a rebuilding club isn’t necessarily great news, depending on one’s perspective, but it gave Fitts a decent path to carve out some big league playing time this year. Now that won’t happen.
It’s also unfortunate because Fitts was in the minors when he got injured. He had a chance to earn a rotation spot at the start of the season but was optioned in mid-March. The Cards instead went with a rotation of Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante. Fitts made three Triple-A starts before suffering his injury.
Since he was injured in the minors, he isn’t currently collecting big league pay or service time. The Cardinals could recall him and put him on the 60-day injured list at some point. That would allow them to open up a 40-man spot, but they would have to be willing to give Fitts major league pay and restart his service clock. He came into 2026 with 164 days of service time, just eight days below the one-year mark.
For the Cardinals, they will have a bit less rotation depth going forward. As mentioned, they are rebuilding, so that’s not as concerning as it would be for some other clubs. Still, part of the appeal of a rebuilding year is giving unproven guys a chance to flourish. Fitts was one of a handful of potential rotation building blocks but the Cards are losing out on the chance to throw him out there against major league hitters.
Their season-opening quintet are still healthy, so the Cards can ride with those guys for now. Hunter Dobbins is on the injured list but has begun a rehab assignment and is essentially ready to go when needed. Like Fitts, Tekoah Roby and Cooper Hjerpe are on the 40-man roster but injured in the minors. Both underwent Tommy John surgery last year, Roby in July and Hjerpe in April. Brycen Mautz is on the 40-man and making Triple-A starts. Tink Hence is also on the 40-man and in Triple-A but he’s been pitching in relief so far this year. Prospect Quinn Mathews is making Triple-A starts but doesn’t have a roster spot yet. Bruce Zimmermann is a non-roster starter with some big league experience who is currently in Triple-A as well.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Cardinals Outright Jared Shuster
Left-hander Jared Shuster went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment, the Cardinals announced Thursday. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Memphis. As a player who’s previously been outrighted, he’ll have the right to decline that assignment in favor of free agency.
A former first-round pick (Braves, 2020), Shuster signed a minor league contract with the Cardinals this past December. He was selected to the major league roster in early April and appeared in two games, tossing a total of 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Opponents scored a pair of runs on the strength of two hits and two walks in that short span. Shuster fanned only one of the 15 batters he faced.
This marks the fourth season in which the 27-year-old Shuster has logged some big league time. The Wake Forest product has a 5.26 ERA through 145 1/3 innings in the majors, due in large part to sub-par strikeout and walk rates of 15.3% and 10.2%. He’s a fly-ball pitcher who’s never given up much hard contact, but Shuster’s inability to miss bats and penchant for free passes have led to too much traffic on the bases behind him.
Shuster’s run-prevention numbers in Triple-A generally mirror those big league rates. He’s missed a few more bats and walked hitters at a slightly lower rate in the upper minors, as one would expect, but the lefty hasn’t posted quality all-around results since a 2022 season split between Double-A and Triple-A. Shuster sits just over 92 mph with his heater and couples that pitch with a mid-80s slider and low-80s changeup. He tinkered with an upper-80s cutter during his brief look with St. Louis and got good results on the pitch in a minuscule sample.
Shuster is out of minor league options, so if he’s added back to the big league roster at any point, he’ll need to stick in the majors or else go through this DFA cycle again if the Cardinals want to send him down.
Yankees Return Rule 5 Pick Cade Winquest To Cardinals
The Yankees have returned Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest to the Cardinals, according to announcements from both clubs. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Winquest does not take a spot on the Cards’ 40-man roster. He has been assigned to Triple-A Memphis.
Winquest, 26 this month, had a bit of an unusual Rule 5 experience. The Yankees don’t make a lot of selections in that draft but decided to take a shot on Winquest. He didn’t have a dominant spring. He tossed ten Grapefruit League innings, allowing eight earned runs via 13 hits, four walks and one hit batter while striking out eight.
The Yanks had some roster breathing room to begin the year. Due to some off-days, they started the season with a four-man rotation and optioned Luis Gil to the minors. That was enough room for Winquest to hold a spot for a bit but the Yankees didn’t put him into a game. A couple of weeks into the season, Gil was recalled to rejoin the rotation and Winquest was designated for assignment.
Per the parameters of the Rule 5 draft, another club could have acquired him but would have been subject to the standard restrictions, namely that Rule 5 guys can’t be optioned to the minors throughout the year. If a Rule 5 guy is passed through waivers, he has to be offered back to his original club, with that team not having to give him a roster spot.
Though not making his debut might have been awkward for him, Winquest at least got to hang around big leaguers for a few weeks, getting major league pay and service time. He’ll now report to Triple-A to continue his development with the Cards. He split last year between High-A and Double-A, tossing 106 innings with a 3.99 earned run average, 23.9% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 48% ground ball rate.
Photo courtesy of Imagn Images
Cardinals Designate Jared Shuster For Assignment
The Cardinals announced that right-hander Ryan Fernandez has been recalled from Triple-A Memphis. To open a spot for him, left-hander Jared Shuster has been designated for assignment. The 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Shuster, 27, was just selected to the St. Louis roster a little over a week ago. He made two appearances since then, including a relatively long outing yesterday. Starter Andre Pallante allowed the Red Sox to score seven times in five innings. George Soriano threw one inning and then Shuster spared the rest of the bullpen by tossing three innings, allowing two runs on 50 pitches. Presumably, Shuster would not have been available for a few days after throwing that much. Instead of continuing with the bullpen a bit shorthanded, the Cards have knocked Shuster into DFA limbo.
The lefty was once a notable prospect but his big league career hasn’t panned out as hoped. Atlanta took him 25th overall back in 2020. He was later flipped to the White Sox as part of the Aaron Bummer deal in November of 2023. Last year, he ended up on waivers and went to the Athletics. He was outrighted off the roster at season’s end and was later released, which led to a minor league deal with the Cards.
Along the way, Shuster exhausted his three option seasons. He has thrown 145 1/3 big league innings with a 5.26 earned run average. His 15.3% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 36.7% ground ball rate are all subpar figures.
He’ll now be in DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cards could take five days to field trade interest, but they might also put him on waivers sooner than that. If any other club acquires him, he is out of options but he has under two years of service time. That means he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration and is theoretically controllable for many years, though he would have to put up some good numbers somewhere for that to be a consideration. Since he has a previous career outright, he would have the right to elect free agency if he is outrighted again.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images