Luis Gastélum’s first run through the majors has been rough, but the Cardinals have every reason to keep rolling him out there.
That’s the reality with young relievers. The jump from Triple-A to the big leagues can be brutal, and Gastélum has already felt it.
Since his promotion in early July, the 24-year-old changeup specialist has given up 12 runs on 16 hits in 13.1 innings. That kind of line is enough to send fans into a tailspin, and some already have.
“Why is Luis Gastelum still on the team he’ll never pan out #stlcards”
- Whity (@whity343) August 9, 2026
But the Cardinals can’t treat Gastélum like a starter, and that matters. A starting pitcher can get knocked around in one inning and still be sent back out to work through it.
A reliever usually gets about one inning per appearance, which leaves far less room for trial and error. There’s simply not as much for the coaches to work with if the arm never gets back into games.
That’s why manager Oli Marmol has to keep giving Gastélum chances. If the goal is development, sitting him on the bench does no good. He needs innings, even if that means taking his lumps while the Cardinals sort out what he can actually be at the major league level.
And this is not a season with postseason pressure hanging over everything. The Cardinals aren’t going to be serious postseason players in 2026, and this was always set up as a runway year for young players to prove they belong in the next competitive version of the team. It’s way too early to write Gastélum off.
There are still signs worth paying attention to. His Statcast numbers and FIP point to some bad luck, and the low exit velocity and hard-hit percentage against him are encouraging. The results have been ugly, but the underlying indicators suggest the story may not be finished.
Gastélum’s fastball sits at 94 mph, which is hardly the kind of overpowering heater that dominates bullpen work these days. His calling card is the changeup, a pitch MLB Pipeline grades as a 70 on the 20-80 scale. That changeup gives hitters a very different look from the velocity they’re used to seeing, and refining it may be enough to help everything click.
The range of outcomes is wide. At the low end, Gastélum could end up like Chris Roycroft, another former Cardinals reliever with eye-catching movement and extension who never found real success in St.
Louis. At the higher end, there’s Tommy Kahnle, a fellow changeup-heavy reliever who has carved out a strong career.
For now, the Cardinals should keep letting Gastélum work. The early results haven’t been pretty, but his role demands patience, and the team still needs to learn what he can become.
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