The Cardinals are turning to another arm from the margins as injuries keep stacking up, and this time it’s pitching prospect Cade Winquest getting the call.
Winquest, 26, was promoted by St. Louis amid the latest wave of roster damage, a move that speaks more to necessity than comfort. The Cardinals have recently been without Blaze Jordan, Hunter Dobbins, Andre Pallante, and Masyn Winn because of injuries of varying severity, leaving the bullpen and the pitching staff short on answers.
On paper, Winquest’s numbers this season don’t jump off the page. He owns a 4.54 ERA across 39.2 innings. But the right-hander’s 12.9 K/9 gives him real intrigue, especially for a Cardinals bullpen that needs someone who can miss bats and soak up innings.
Winquest’s path back to St. Louis has been a winding one. He was originally a Cardinals farmhand after being drafted in the eighth round of the 2022 MLB draft, then bounced around to a few different teams before finding his way back.
There’s also a deeper reason this promotion has some appeal beyond the immediate injury crunch. Winquest has been described as the kind of arm that could follow the same kind of trajectory as Kyle Leahy, who broke through this season after a similar setup: a reliever or bulk option given a real chance because the team simply needed one.
Winquest’s minor league production has been uneven, but the underlying indicators have been loud. Among qualified pitchers who had thrown at least 500 pitches, he ranked in the 91st percentile or better in xwOBA, xwOBAcon, strikeout percentage, barrel percentage, and extension.
That mix of strikeout ability, contact suppression, and perceived velocity is what makes the comparison to Leahy pop. The Cardinals didn’t necessarily go into this move expecting a future fixture; they went looking for a low-stakes arm who could handle bulk innings and help bridge the gap.
That’s where St. Louis finds itself right now. The organization still has decisions looming this offseason across the pitching staff, including what to do with Pallante moving forward, how much confidence to place in pitchers with shaky underlying data, whether health outweighs per-inning value, and what Quinn Mathews’ role looks like if his slide continues down the stretch.
There are still options in the system, including Liam Doyle, Brandon Clarke, Daniel Eagen, and others. But the Cardinals may not want to rush all of their young starters into the mix at once, which makes a more expendable internal option valuable in the short term.
Winquest fits that description. He’s set to be leaned on heavily for bulk innings in the coming weeks, and in the process he gets a chance to put himself in the conversation for more.
The larger picture is simple enough: the bullpen is open for 2027 auditions, the rotation is too, and until the young arms are ready, St. Louis is in stop-gap mode.
In Other News...
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Saggese gives the Cardinals some much-needed defensive flexibility, which matters now more than ever with the infield mix shifting again. He is back in the majors after beginning the season on the Opening Day roster, and his return puts him right back into the conversation as St. Louis tries to keep the position group steady while Jordan is sidelined. [Read more 🡒]
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Fergusons exit underscores how quickly the relief mix has shifted since the trade deadline, when he arrived as a hoped-for reinforcement. Instead, his stint in St. Louis never found traction, with the lefty working nine games and posting an 8.64 ERA before the Cardinals moved on, leaving the club to see whether Mautz can offer more stability in a bullpen that has been stretched thin. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals May Have Found One Deadline Bright Spot They Already Need
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Pereira is on the injured list now with a hand contusion, which adds another layer to a player whose profile already comes with some caution because of past injuries and underlying concerns in his metrics. Even so, his early work has been one of the few deadline additions that has felt like an actual fit, and the Cardinals will be watching closely to see whether the positive first impression can carry into more meaningful run once he gets back. [Read more 🡒]