Michael McGreevy Awaits Full-Time Role With Cardinals
When the Cardinals returned Michael McGreevy to Triple-A Memphis following his strong May 4 turn against the Mets, a club official was candid about the reason the 24-year-old righthander didn’t turn 5.2 scoreless innings into a longer stay.
“Circumstances, man,” the executive said.
One of the most impressive starting pitchers in spring training, McGreevy continued that success into the season with a 2.78 ERA through 11 starts for Memphis.
Yet, he’s made just two cameos in St. Louis. With other starters ahead of him on the depth chart, the Cardinals positioned McGreevy as their de facto No. 6 starter. For now.
His future is in the rotation—and he’s pushing for the future to be sooner. McGreevy asserted that in his June 6 start versus the defending-champion Dodgers.
“He’s stubborn about (his approach) in a good way,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said following McGreevy’s six innings, five strikeouts and four runs allowed against Los Angeles. “He doesn’t allow (things to speed up). He really does stay in the moment, especially for his level of experience.
“We’re playing a good team, and for him not to get sped up at any moment was awesome to see . . . I’d like to have him up here for longer.”
The Cardinals promoted McGreevy, their first-round pick in 2021 out of UC Santa Barbara, for the one-start engagement to buy a break for the other five starters, and it happened to test him on an area of emphasis.
The lefthanded hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup—chiefly Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman—were going to see how McGreevy adjusted his pitch mix to be more effective on that side of the plate.
McGreevy plays his plus sinker against his four-seam fastball, and he’s tightened a cutter to give him a third look from that same fastball angle. McGreevy has as many as seven pitches he’s comfortable throwing, all with distinct shapes.
Four of McGreevy’s five strikeouts versus the Dodgers were by lefthanded batters.
And the next day he was back to Triple-A, where he will stay—barring injury—until needed later in June for another spot start.
REDBIRD CHIRPS
— Righthander Tekoah Roby, one of the Cardinals’ rising talents, received a promotion to Triple-A Memphis as part of a series of moves to reorder pitching depth in the system. He recorded a 2.49 ERA in 10 starts for Double-A Springfield, with 57 strikeouts more strikeouts and a 0.96 WHIP in 47 innings.
— Hancel Rincon, a 23-year-old righthander the Cardinals signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, made his Double-A Springfield debut with eight strikeouts in five innings. Rincon led all Cardinals minor leaguers with at least 60 innings in 2024 with a 3.8% walk rate. He also had a .216 opponent average. Over two seasons and 34 games (33 starts) at High-A Peoria, Rincon was 10-9, 3.91 with 154 strikeouts in 181.2 innings before promotion.
