St. Louis Cardinals rookie starting pitcher Michael McGreevy is vying to be in the Opening Day starting rotation with a strong spring training. The 2021 first-round draft pick is continuing where he left off late in 2024 with seemingly dominant stuff against MLB hitters. Whether there is room for him in the starting rotation remains to be seen.
Michael McGreevy Vying for Cardinals Rotation Spot
A Strong Start to Spring
McGreevy is not showing many flaws so far in spring training. The 24-year-old has made three appearances so far this spring and has only given up one run in that time. Across 7 2/3 innings pitched, McGreevy has a 1.17 ERA and a 0.783 WHIP. He has only surrendered six hits and one run on a solo home run.
The right-hander features five pitches to secure outs with a four-seam fastball, cutter sinker, slider, curveball, and change-up. He has proven to be an effective starter. Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol wants to keep him in that role rather than put him in the bullpen if they can’t find a spot for him in the rotation.
“My preference would be for him to start,” Marmol told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “When you go into the offseason and a lot of the messaging is around opportunity, then you want to keep guys in the role that they see them being in long term. And for him, we see him as a starter.”
Whether that starting role will come in St. Louis or with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in Memphis remains to be seen. However, McGreevy is making the decision a tough one.
Got the Organization’s Attention with MLB Debut
McGreevy made three MLB starts in 2024. Once, he filled in mid-season for a spot-start from Memphis. Then, he got a chance in the starting rotation in the last two weeks of the season. He was impressive in those starts. McGreevy posted a 1.96 ERA, grabbing the win in each of the three starts. In two of those three starts, McGreevy pitched at least seven innings.
“As we get into camp, McGreevy is going to be competing for a spot; you could argue some of those spots are already taken by veteran players,” Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said at the Cardinals’ ‘Winter Warmup’ event in January. “Historically, some of those players haven’t been able to go pole to pole.”
McGreevy’s Pathway to Starting
The first three spots in the rotation seem to be set. Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, and Erick Fedde appear to be sure bets to be in the Opening Day rotation. Andre Pallante is also likely to be in the rotation after a strong 2024 campaign. McGreevy’s best chance to break into the rotation may be to pass Steven Matz.
Matz has also pitched in three spring training games so far in 2025. He has gone nine innings and given up three runs in those innings. The left-hander is coming off an injury-plagued 2024 where he only had 12 appearances and seven starts. In those appearances, he posted a 5.08 ERA.
The Cardinals have shown interest in trading Matz, but so far, no trade has materialized. Matz also ended last season coming out of the bullpen after missing most of the season with injuries. Pallante is a left-handed pitcher, meaning if the Cardinals put Matz in the lineup with Pallante, they will have two left-handed starters. If McGreevy is in the Opening Day roster, it will likely be because Matz is in the bullpen or with another team.
Photo Credit: © Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
The post Cardinals Rookie Makes Case to Be In Starting Rotation appeared first on Last Word On Baseball.