The Cardinals have found a useful arm in Kyle Leahy, but the jump from useful to “ace” is where the conversation gets shaky.
Leahy has quietly become one of the bright spots down the stretch in St. Louis.
In a season that has asked plenty of the Cardinals’ rotation, he has logged a career-high 133 innings and turned in a 3.33 ERA. That’s the kind of line that gets attention, especially when a pitcher is doing it with a deep pitch mix, limited self-inflicted damage, and the help of elite infield defense behind him.
That performance has pushed some prominent voices around the club to lean all the way in. On Matrix Midwest, Randy Karraker made the case that Leahy has already crossed into frontline territory.
“He’s been a shutdown starter,” Karraker exclaimed. “If you didn’t notice, Leahy went from his first start in May until his last start in August-four months-without missing a start.
“20 games, 100 innings, 96 strikeouts, a 2.43 earned run average. Leahy isn’t just competitive; he’s ace-material.
I mentioned yesterday that if I were the Cardinals, all of my offseason money on outside talent would be spent on pitching. To be more precise, it’d be on relief pitching.”
Karraker wasn’t done there.
“Get at least four relief pitchers that can be counted on for six months. That’s the play that’ll get the Cardinals back to the playoffs in 2027, or if they don’t play, in 2028.
But they need people down there that Oli Marmol can rely on. People who are in the trust tree, not people he knows are probably gonna give up a home run in the latter portions of a game.”
It’s a strong case on the surface. Leahy has given the Cardinals innings, steadiness, and enough results to make people look twice. But the deeper numbers tell a different story.
His 3.33 ERA is the headline. His 4.77 xERA is the warning sign.
That gap points to a pitcher who has benefited from factors that may not hold up, including a lack of strikeout stuff, too much hard contact, and very little chase. When Leahy is around the zone, he’s hittable.
That’s the problem.
The comparison that matters is the kind of arm that truly owns the strike zone. The Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski is held up as the example of what real ace stuff looks like: nearly untouchable no matter where the ball ends up. Leahy, by contrast, is living on the edge and getting by with formulas that suggest luck has played a bigger role than dominance.
That kind of profile has burned the Cardinals before. St. Louis has seen soft-contact success stories unravel when the underlying numbers catch up, and that’s why the hesitation here matters.
Leahy is a very good pitcher. He just isn’t an ace yet.
The Cardinals do have a solid foundation at the back of the rotation, with Leahy joined by Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy, and Quinn Mathews. That group gives St.
Louis something real to work with. But none of those arms have shown game-one playoff stuff, and that remains the line between encouraging and elite.
For now, Leahy has earned trust. He has not earned the ace label.
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For Cardinals followers, the appeal is less about a quick fix than the sense that the front office is trying to assemble something sustainable. The longer view points toward a roster that could be in the postseason mix by 2027, which is still more projection than promise, but it is enough to keep the conversation centered on progress instead of frustration. [Read more 🡒]