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Cardinals Sign Zach Plesac To Minor League Deal

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Zach Plesac is back in affiliated ball. The Cardinals announced that they’ve signed the righty to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Memphis. Plesac had spent the past couple months pitching in the Atlantic League for the Long Island Ducks.

Plesac pitched well in the independent ranks. He turned in a 2.84 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate over seven starts. His stuff was sharp enough for the Cardinals to view him as a viable depth starter. Plesac needed to pitch his way back to affiliated ball after a rough 2024 season with the Angels. He only made three MLB starts and was blitzed for 11 runs across 12 innings. Things didn’t go much better in Triple-A, where he allowed a 5.69 ERA through 99 2/3 frames spanning 18 appearances.

It has been a while since Plesac was an effective starter. He was brilliant for Cleveland during the shortened 2020 season, turning in a 2.28 ERA over eight outings. That came against a generally weak slate of lineups with teams playing a limited schedule, though, and the former 12th-round pick wasn’t able to build off it. He owns a 4.86 ERA in 58 MLB appearances since that season.

St. Louis has had the best rotation health of any team this year. They’ve only used six starters. Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante and Erick Fedde have each taken all 12 turns. Steven Matz briefly joined the group when they used a six-man rotation to navigate a busy part of the schedule. He started twice and is now back in the bullpen.

They have another hectic stretch coming up, as they only have one off day (on June 16) for the remainder of the month. That could lead them to go back to a six-man rotation. Liberatore also left yesterday’s outing a little early with general fatigue, though there’s no indication it’ll impact his ability to make his next start. John Denton of MLB.com suggested this week that pitching prospect Michael McGreevy could be recalled as soon as this Sunday to fill out the staff — presumably with Matz staying in the bullpen. If that’s how things play out, Plesac can backfill the Triple-A rotation.

How Should The Cardinals Approach The Deadline?

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The Cardinals are amidst a transition year. That's true literally, as John Mozeliak will turn control of baseball operations to Chaim Bloom at season's end. Dating back to last fall, they've framed this season as one primarily about evaluating and developing young players. It's not a rebuild, but their only move to improve over the winter was a bargain $2MM signing of setup man Phil Maton.

It set them up as expected deadline sellers. Impending free agents Ryan Helsley and Erick Fedde ranked among the likeliest players to move in July. It was surprising that the Cards even held both players into the season. Nolan Arenado's contract and no-trade clause meant he'd be a tough player to move midseason, but those rumors figured to resurface.

The team is trying its best to avoid those conversations. They have a 34-27 record that has them narrowly ahead of San Francisco and Milwaukee for the NL's final playoff spot. They've outscored opponents by 28 runs, giving them the fifth-best run differential in the National League. They went an MLB-best 19-8 in May. They've played like a contender so far. One opposing GM who was eyeing trade targets on the St. Louis roster succinctly told Jeff Passan of ESPN this week that the team's better than expected play "sucks" for potential buyers.

Much can change in the next six to eight weeks, but the front office may find itself in a tricky spot. Mozeliak addressed the situation in a chat with Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week. "We went into this year with an understanding this was going to be about opportunity for players and depending on what they do with it would determine our next steps, right?" he rhetorically asked. "So when you think about how the public had us as sellers — whether it was selling this offseason or selling at the trade deadline. It might look a little different based on how we’re playing."

It's an acknowledgment that the team could play its way off selling. At the same time, that wouldn't provide much clarity on how aggressively the team should add if they remain competitive. That's a tougher call, especially because of the way their first half has unfolded. The team may be better than expected, but the production has come mostly from their more established players -- particularly on offense. If the Cards are going to upgrade, the most obvious spots to do so would limit the playing time of a pair of young hitters on whom much of their season is supposed to be focused.

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Cardinals Sign Tyler Matzek To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced that they have signed left-hander Tyler Matzek to a minor league deal. He has been assigned to Triple-A Memphis and will provide the club with some non-roster bullpen depth.

Matzek, 34, started the year with the Yankees on a minor league deal. He was called up to the big leagues on April 22nd and lasted almost a month before being designated for assignment on May 16th. He tossed 6 1/3 innings over seven appearances, striking out seven opponents while giving out five walks and allowing 11 hits, which resulted in three earned runs. After being bumped from the roster, he cleared waivers and elected free agency. After a couple of weeks on the open market, he has landed with a new organization.

The lefty has some good seasons on his track record but hasn’t been able to do much in recent years. From 2020 to 2022, he logged 135 2/3 innings with Atlanta, posting a 2.92 earned run average in that time. His 13.4% walk rate was quite high but he also struck out 27.4% of batters faced. He earned one save and 33 holds over that span.

In October of 2022, he required Tommy John surgery. That put him on ice through the entire 2023 season. He was back in the mix last year but it turned out to be another challenging season. By early May, he allowed 11 earned runs in 10 innings for Atlanta. He then landed on the IL due to elbow inflammation. While still on the IL, he was traded to the Giants as salary ballast in the Jorge Soler deal. The Giants released him in August and he returned to Atlanta on a minor league deal but didn’t get back to the majors.

Put it all together and Matzek has only 16 1/3 big league innings since the end of the 2022 season. Regardless, he has some past major league success and there’s no harm for the Cards in adding some non-roster depth. They currently have Steven Matz, JoJo Romero and John King as the left-handed contingent of their big league bullpen but pitching injuries are fairly inevitable for all teams. The Cards will get a close-up look at Matzek in Memphis as he tries to earn his way back to the majors.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Cardinals Place Jordan Walker On 10-Day IL, Select Ryan Vilade

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The Cardinals announced that outfielder Jordan Walker has been placed on the team’s 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 29) due to left wrist inflammation.  Right-hander Gordon Graceffo has also been optioned to Triple-A, while coming up from Triple-A are right-hander Roddery Munoz and utilityman Ryan Vilade.  In Vilade’s case, his minor league contract was selected to the Cards’ active roster.

The IL trip comes at a particularly inopportune time for Walker, as he was starting to heat up after an extended slump.  After posting just a .502 OPS over his first 138 plate appearances of the season, Walker had hit .333/.353/.545 over his last 34 trips to the dish.  These ups and downs have come over the first true extended stint of everyday playing time Walker has had in his three MLB seasons, as he has been the Cardinals’ starting right fielder for the majority of the 2025 season.

St. Louis came into the year committed to finding playing time for some of its younger players, and Walker has remained a lineup regular despite his struggles.  With Walker now sidelined, Alec Burleson or Brendan Donovan could see more time in the outfield, and Donovan moving more into the outfield mix could open up second base for Nolan Gorman.

Vilade’s multi-positional ability should also net him some looks as the 26-year-old is on the verge of his first big league action of 2025.  The Cardinals signed Vilade to a minor league deal during the offseason, and he has thus far played all three outfield positions as well as first, second, and third base over 48 games with Triple-A Memphis.  Beyond his contributions to the depth chart, Vilade has also drawn attention with his bat, as he is hitting .280/.375/.476 over 192 PA with Memphis.

Vilade’s MLB resume consists of 20 career games — three with the Rockies in 2021 and 17 with the Tigers last season, with 56 PA and a .416 OPS to show for that small taste of the Show.  His minor league numbers are naturally much more solid, with Vilade producing consistently better offense over parts of four seasons now of Triple-A ball.

Rockies, Nick Anderson Agree To Minor League Deal

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Reliever Nick Anderson has a minor league deal with the Rockies, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Anderson, a client of Gaeta Sports Management, had been on a minor league contract with the Cardinals. He triggered an opt-out and quickly found another landing spot.

Anderson had been pitching for the Cards’ top farm team in Memphis. He made 17 appearances, allowing a 6.20 ERA over 20 1/3 innings. His respective strikeout (21.5%) and walk (8.6%) rates weren’t terrible, but he gave up a fair amount of hard contact and had a tough time stranding runners. St. Louis unsurprisingly decided not to call him up when he triggered the out clause.

The 34-year-old Anderson appeared in the majors with the Royals in the first half of last season. He tossed 35 2/3 frames of 4.04 ERA ball with a modest 19% strikeout rate. Anderson subsequently spent time in Triple-A with the Dodgers and Orioles but didn’t get a major league opportunity with either club.

Anderson has been a journeyman middle relief type since his brilliant 2019-20 run between Miami and Tampa Bay. He provided the Braves 35 1/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball a couple seasons back and still sits in the 94-95 MPH range with his fastball. Colorado’s bullpen has managed a serviceable 4.29 ERA overall, but they’re last in MLB with an 18.9% strikeout rate.

MLBTR Podcast: Bregman Injured, Marcelo Mayer Called Up, And Pirates Talk

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Should the Orioles trade Félix Bautista at the deadline? (29:35)
  • What are the chances the Giants could sign Kyle Tucker this offseason? (35:10)
  • Are the Cardinals for real? (40:35)
  • Does Kevin Alcántara of the Cubs get traded this summer? (48:10)
  • The Dodgers have 14 pitchers on the injured list. Does this reflect poorly on the club’s training and conditioning? (51:15)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Bob DeChiara, Imagn Images

Poll: Can The Cardinals Keep This Up?

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Today is Memorial Day, and the conventional wisdom in baseball suggests that means the current standings now have more signal than noise moving forward. Perhaps that means it’s time to take the Cardinals, who have been white-hot in recent weeks, more seriously despite the narratives surrounding their quiet offseason and slow start to the year last month. A nine-game win streak earlier this month has helped propel them to a 16-4 record over their past 20 games and a 30-23 record overall. That’s put them in a statistical tie with the Padres for the final NL Wild Card spot as things stand and just two games back of the Cubs in the NL Central.

When looking at the eight teams that have won 30+ games entering Memorial Day, it’s hard to deny that the Cardinals are the most surprising. As previously mentioned, they made virtually no additions this winter as they signed Phil Maton late in the offseason but otherwise stood pat while players like Paul Goldschmidt and Kyle Gibson departed the organization. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that players who appeared likely to be a big part of any success the Cardinals may have had this year, like youngsters Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman, are struggling badly. Willson Contreras was a standout at the plate last year but has been merely league average this season and is currently day-to-day with a back injury, while Nolan Arenado is hitting at a below-average clip after the Cards failed to trade him this winter. Even on-paper ace Sonny Gray has a middling 4.06 ERA through 11 starts, and closer Ryan Helsley’s 3.50 ERA is his weakest since 2021.

Instead of the usual suspects, the Cardinals’ successes have come from unlikely places. The best hitter on the team is Brendan Donovan, who has long been a steady piece for St. Louis but now appears to be in the midst of a breakout season in his age-28 campaign with a 140 wRC+ and 2.0 fWAR across 51 games. The ace of the rotation is Matthew Liberatore, who has a 2.73 ERA in ten starts so far despite having never posted an ERA below 4.40 in the big leagues before and not even being assured of a rotation role entering camp this year. Behind Liberatore, Miles Mikolas has turned back the clock in his age-36 season to post a solid 3.51 ERA in his first ten starts and fellow veteran Steven Matz has been brilliant in a swing role with a 1.99 ERA in 31 2/3 innings of work.

All of this surprising performances beg the question: how sustainable can this be? Mikolas, Andre Pallante, and Erick Fedde are all pitching well above their peripherals so far this year. Impressive as he’s been, Ivan Herrera won’t finish the year with a wRC+ above 200. Even Donovan’s .360 BABIP must be looked at with at least some skepticism, as should the league average performance the Cards have gotten out of Victor Scott II and his .368 BABIP. On the other hand, many of the club’s more established players should be expected to improve. Gray and Contreras have both performed to their usual All-Star caliber levels when looking at the underlying metrics, Arenado’s .245 BABIP would be the lowest of his career in a full season, and Lars Nootbaar’s solid 112 wRC+ may be just the tip of the iceberg with his discipline and power potential. There’s also some players, such as Liberatore and Donovan, whose breakouts are fairly convincing even if they aren’t locks to stay quite as good as they have been so far.

Where does that leave the Cardinals? If you look at the playoff odds over at Fangraphs, the answer is likely outside of the final playoff picture. The club is projected by the site for an 84-win season with a 39.1% chance of making the playoffs. If you gave fans in St. Louis those odds at the start of the 2025 season, the vast majority would’ve surely taken that happily. As it stands, however, winning a touch under half their games for the rest of the season would surely be a disappointing outcome after this exciting start to the season. At the same time, it’s not hard to see why projection systems might doubt the Cardinals. The NL Wild Card race has been extremely competitive so far, even with strong teams like the Diamondbacks and Braves struggling to find their footing so far. That could make St. Louis’s best path to the postseason through the NL Central, where the Cubs are projected to win 90 games and have the NL’s easiest schedule the rest of the way.

Where do MLBTR readers believe the Cardinals will end up? Is postseason baseball returning to St. Louis this October, or will this team wind up at home like they did the past two seasons? Have your say in the poll below:

Kolten Wong Announces Retirement

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Veteran infielder Kolten Wong announced his retirement from professional baseball earlier today at his alma mater, University of Hawaii, as relayed by Brian McInnis of Spectrum News. Wong was in town to throw out the first pitch at a game against UC San Diego.

“Pretty much right now, I’m done,” Wong said, as relayed by McInnis. “I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that I’m probably going to be hanging them up. It’s just one of those things where, the game how it’s going now, there’s no sense of chasing (it). … I’m a dad now, yes, I’m enjoying that. I’m trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I’m going to stick to that.”

A veteran of 11 MLB seasons, the 34-year-old Wong was drafted 22nd overall by the Cardinals back in 2011. He made his way to the majors for a brief cup of coffee just two years later, but his big league career began in earnest during the 2014 season. That year, Wong appeared in 113 games for the Cardinals and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Jacob deGrom and Billy Hamilton after slashing .249/.292/.388 in 433 trips to the plate while playing second base exclusively for St. Louis. Wong would go on as a roughly average regular with the Cards for a few years, getting a brief look in the outfield during the 2016 season to accommodate occasional reps at the position for Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko but otherwise remaining locked in as the club’s everyday second baseman thanks to nearly average offense (92 wRC+) and fantastic defense at the keystone.

Wong enjoyed something of a breakout during his age-26 season with the Cardinals in 2017, as he slashed .285/.376/.412 with a 108 wRC+. It was his best offensive season to that point in his career, and while injuries limited him to just 108 games that year he would turn in above average results overall at the plate from the start of that season onward. That was a fortuitous step forward for the Cardinals, seeing as it came in just the second year of a five-year, $25.5MM extension the sides agreed to prior to the 2016 season. Wong hit a combined .273/.356/.398 (104 wRC+) while playing stellar defense over the course of his final four years in St. Louis, even earning Gold Glove awards for his work at second base during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Aside from that solid regular season production, Wong departed St. Louis with a solid postseason resume, having slashed .206/.243/.464 with five homers, four stolen bases, eight doubles, and a triple in 104 postseason plate appearances for the Cards. The Cardinals ultimately declined Wong’s 2021 club option and allowed him to test free agency in order to create an everyday spot in the lineup for utility man Tommy Edman. Wong eventually signed with the Brewers on a two-year, $18MM guarantee that came with a club option for the 2023 season. Wong’s defensive numbers took a step back during his time in Milwaukee as he entered his age-30 season, but his offense was better than ever as he hit a strong .262/.337/.439 (113 wRC+) across his two campaigns with the club.

Unlike the Cardinals before them, the Brewers did pick up his third year club option. With that being said, he still found himself in another uniform prior to the 2023 campaign as he was traded to the Mariners in a deal that brought Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro to Milwaukee. It’s a deal that didn’t work out for anyone, as none of those players were particularly effective for their new clubs. Wong struggled mightily during his time in Seattle, hitting just .165/.241/.227 across 67 games before he was released in early August.

Wong signed with the Dodgers on a minor league deal shortly thereafter, however, and managed to end his big league career on a high note as he slashed an impressive .300/.353/.500 (129 wRC+) over 20 games in Los Angeles before participating in the NLDS with the club. Headed into 2024, Wong signed briefly with both the Orioles and the Diamondbacks on minor league deals. He hit .271/.339/.383 in 121 trips to the plate for Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno before being granted his release just under a year ago. He’s not played in affiliated ball since, and after going unsigned this offseason Wong has evidently decided to put his playing career behind him.

In all, Wong wraps his MLB career with a .256/.330/.390 career slash line, good for a roughly league average 97 wRC+. That triple slash comes across 1189 games and encapsulates a career that saw him collect 973 hits, 303 extra-base hits, 511 runs scored and 405 runs batted in. In addition to his aforementioned two Gold Glove awards and status as a Rookie of the Year finalist, Wong also received down-ballot consideration for the NL MVP award during the 2019 season. MLB Trade Rumors congratulates Wong on a fine career, and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

Poll: National League Playoff Outlook

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We’re now a little over a quarter of the way through the 2025 regular season. With Memorial Day fast approaching, it’s hard for struggling teams to continue arguing that it’s still early. That isn’t to say playoff positions are set in stone, of course; on this day last year, the Cubs were firmly in playoff position while the Mets club that eventually made it all the way to the NLCS was still three games under .500. If the season ended today, the Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Padres, Phillies, and Giants would be your playoff teams in the National League this year.

With four-and-a-half months left in the baseball calendar, which team currently outside of that group has the best chance of breaking their way into the mix? Yesterday’s poll covering the American League was won by the Red Sox (25%), who narrowly bested both the Rangers (20%) and Astros (20%) in a tight contest. Here’s a look at a few of NL’s the options, listed in order of record entering play today:

St. Louis Cardinals (24-20)

The Cardinals essentially left their roster untouched outside of the departure of veterans like Paul Goldschmidt and Kyle Gibson over the offseason. Right-hander Phil Maton was the club’s only major league free agent signing. Running back last year’s 83-win team without its former MVP first baseman didn’t do much for the Cardinals’ projections, but a recent nine-game win streak has allowed St. Louis to change the narrative. Willson Contreras has started hitting again, Masyn Winn could be breaking out, and Matthew Liberatore is making the decision to move him to the rotation look wise. If the Cards can keep playing anything close to this well, thoughts of selling Ryan Helsley at the deadline are likely to vanish before the calendar flips to July.

Arizona Diamondbacks (23-21)

The fourth team in a crowded four-team NL West race, the Diamondbacks have held their own this year despite injuries plaguing superstar Ketel Marte and the loss of A.J. Puk from an already-leaky bullpen. Corbin Burnes has delivered a sub-3.00 ERA despite shaky peripherals, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt look like solid mid-rotation pieces, and Corbin Carroll is a superstar. If Zac Gallen (4.59 ERA) and Eduardo Rodriguez (7.07 ERA) can even pitch close to their respective 3.91 FIP and 4.30 FIP marks, Arizona should be a real threat to reach the postseason.

Atlanta Braves (22-22)

That Atlanta finds itself even in this conversation after going 0-7 to start the year is an impressive feat. The tandem of Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin behind the plate has been a sensational one, and AJ Smith-Shawver is turning into a potential front-of-the-rotation surprise alongside Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach. With a .500 record despite getting just one start from Spencer Strider and zero plate appearances from Ronald Acuna Jr. so far, it’s not hard to imagine the Braves fighting their way into the playoffs by season’s end. For that to happen, players like Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies will need to start hitting while closer Raisel Iglesias (5.71 ERA) will need to turn things around or be replaced by someone who can more consistently nail down save opportunities.

Milwaukee Brewers (21-23)

Disappointing performances from Christian Yelich, William Contreras, and Jackson Chourio to this point in the year have limited the Brewers’ performance so far. (Contreras is playing through a broken middle finger, which can’t help.) Thankfully, players like Rhys Hoskins and Brice Turang have both looked excellent so far and the Brewers have proved they can win mostly on the strength of their pitching before. Freddy Peralta and rookie Chad Patrick have been excellent, Brandon Woodruff is nearing a return, and top prospect Jacob Misiorowski is throwing 103 mph with dazzling results at Triple-A. If the star hitters can perform at a higher level going forward, perhaps that would be enough to get them back into the mix.

Cincinnati Reds (21-24)

It’s been a frustrating season for the Reds so far. The rotation, led by Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott, has been strong, but those contributions have been dampened by a frustrating lineup that has failed to get consistent quality production out of anyone but Jose Trevino and Gavin Lux. Even Elly De La Cruz has been a roughly average hitter overall, while key pieces like Matt McLain and Spencer Steer have been bitterly disappointing. Fortunately, Noelvi Marte seems to be coming around after a disastrous 2024. There’s still enough time that if the club’s young lineup can go on a heater, it’s easy to imagine a strong pitching staff carrying them back into the postseason conversation.

The Rest Of The Field

The five teams mentioned above are all within five games of a Wild Card spot. The rest of the league would have a lot more work to do. The Nationals have an exciting young core featuring James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore but lack the pitching depth to capitalize on it. The Marlins have gotten a big performance from Kyle Stowers, but a disappointing pitching staff that includes an 8.10 ERA from Sandy Alcantara is keeping the playoffs out of reach. The inverse is true in Pittsburgh, where Paul Skenes leads an impressive rotation but Bryan Reynolds has a wRC+ of just 55. Meanwhile, the Rockies are the team that can be most decisively counted out of the playoff picture in a season where they’re poised to contend for the modern loss record.

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Which of the teams outside of the NL playoff picture entering play today do MLBTR readers think stands the best chance of making it into the postseason? Have your say in the poll below:

MLBTR Podcast: Devers Drama, Managerial Firings, And Jordan Lawlar

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Should the Orioles try to extend Cedric Mullins or Tomoyuki Sugano (35:05)
  • How real are the Twins and the Tigers? (39:00)
  • What should the Cardinals do in right field if Jordan Walker doesn’t get going? (44:50)
  • Why do the Mets seemingly do better with external pitching additions than their homegrown arms? (49:25)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

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