The Cardinals announced this morning that right-hander Andre Pallante has made the Opening Day roster. They’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move in the coming days to formally select the 23-year-old Pallante’s contract. Additionally, the Cards have formally placed right-hander Jack Flaherty on the 10-day injured list. It’s been known for some time now that Flaherty will miss the beginning of the season, and his absence figures to be a good bit longer than 10 days.
Pallante was the Cards fourth-round pick in 2019. The righty had pitched to a 2.59 ERA in three seasons at UC-Irvine, working out of the rotation for his final two campaigns with the Anteaters. While his fastball typically sat in the low-90s with UCI, he’s seen a velocity spike in pro ball. Baseball America wrote this winter that he averaged north of 95 MPH on his heater last season. BA also credited the 23-year-old with an above-average slider and named him the #16 prospect in the St. Louis organization.
Because of the canceled minor league campaign in 2020, last year marked Pallante’s first full season of professional game action. He spent the bulk of the year with Double-A Springfield, where he started 21 games and worked 94 1/3 innings. Pallante’s 19.4% strikeout percentage and 10% walk rate at that level aren’t especially exciting, but he induced grounders on nearly 60% of balls in play against him. That’s no doubt of appeal to a St. Louis front office that placed an emphasis on acquiring ground-ball specialists throughout the winter in an effort to maximize the effect of arguably the game’s top defensive infield.
Pallante will break camp with the big league club, presumably as a bullpen option. The Cards have a top four in the rotation of Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas with Flaherty out. Drew VerHagen appears to be the favorite for the fifth spot, with Aaron Brooks and Jake Woodford also seemingly ahead of Pallante on the rotation depth chart. Pallante only has two career Triple-A appearances under his belt, and it’s possible he’ll find himself back in the minors at some point. While the Cardinals will carry him on the Opening Day roster, he still has all three option years remaining and could bounce between St. Louis and Triple-A Memphis.
Flaherty recently underwent a platelet-rich plasma on an ailing throwing shoulder. His precise timetable for a return remains unclear, but he’ll surely need some time to progress through a throwing program and perhaps embark on a minor league rehab assignment. It’ll be the second consecutive season impacted by injury for Flaherty, who was limited to 17 outings by oblique and shoulder issues.
Didn’t they change the 10 day to 15 day?
Delayed until May 1.
I hope he looks better than when I saw him in AA. This is kind of shocking..Is our BP this bad???
Why doesn’t Mo just trade for a starter from Oakland, he would be better than all this low hanging fruit. Mo does this Every year, Flaherty won’t retire till May, then Mo will say we didn’t know he would be out this long. Mo needs to Go! NOW!
But…but…Pujols!
In a way I’d like to see the front office follow through with the current strategy, then when the team finishes in third and misses the postseason it’ll finally get DeWitt’s attention.
DeWitt could care less! The money line is the only thing that gets his attention!!
Missing the last playoff spot for 3 consecutive years got his attention!
At that point here came Goldschmidt. But that was all. Then came Arenaldo. But—- so far—- that will be all until record and attendance drops.
Everything revolves around the almighty dollar for DeWitt and associates The Cardinals are only a business venture to their owners. Their philosophy—- get by cheap!! And don’t make waves!! Right Mike Schildt?!?!?
Washed at 26
Sad
Flaherty isn’t a wash (yet), but he is made of glass. He’s another Chris Sale or Stephen Strasberg waiting to happen. They are good while on the mound, just need to figure out how to keep them there.
Injuries have made Flaherty unreliable. Simply can’t be the the #1 starter workhorse for a WS caliber team. Only a few teams should even consider giving him the kind of $$ he will want in FA in a few years. Most organizations would be torpedoed if and when said deal goes south.
Good thing he doesn’t play on a World Series caliber team.
Keep in mind they did this with Chris Carpenter also. He was injured a lot and had several setbacks and they were patient with him and look how he turned out. They saw his potential.
I think Flaherty will turn out the same way, or all of Cardinal nation is hoping for the same outcome.
I hope you are right, but I will be surprised if he makes 20 starts this season.
Zot zot
I have been saying all offseason that the Cards needed another starter and Flaherty injury proves my concerns were legitimate. But I am now going to about face and support the current plan. The Cards defense might be good enough to make average pitchers successful enough to win as a #5 starter. They can buy low and trade them when their value is peaked.
Man, Cards have some talented pitchers but a lot of injuries it seems, especially over the past two seasons. Flaherty, Reyes, & Hicks are some pretty talented guys, but injuries seem to prevent them from meeting their potential, or staying on the field altogether.
another arm for st. louis to ruin. bring in starting pitchers to sit in the bullpen