The St. Louis Cardinals have a pitching problem that hasn’t gone away this season. The rotation has done its part, but the bullpen has been a letdown, and the club could still use more starting depth as it looks ahead to 2027.
That’s why Michael King has started to make sense as a name to watch. Mike Axisa of CBS Sports ranked the top 10 impending free agents and included the 31-year-old right-hander, listing the Cardinals as a possible landing spot.
“For now, we'll assume King will go into the open market coming off a strong and healthy season," Axisa wrote. "His five-pitch arsenal (sinker, four-seamer, sweeper, slider, changeup) and command suggest a graceful decline lies ahead, plus King is big-market and postseason battle-tested.
He appeals to both old-school scouts and new-school analytic types. He also has a reputation for being an A+ clubhouse guy, which can only help."
King has put together a solid season: 10-9 with a 3.00 ERA, 144 strikeouts and a 4.2 WAR across 29 starts and 168 innings. He has experience on the big stage with both the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres, and that matters for a team trying to inch back toward contention.
He wouldn’t be an ace, but he fits the profile of a mid-rotation starter who can hold down innings and stabilize a staff. For a Cardinals team that may not be back in the postseason right away, that kind of arm could still move the needle.
There’s also a path where King becomes more than just a short-term fit. He could sign a shorter deal with a mid-market team like St. Louis and later turn into a trade chip at next year’s deadline if the lockout doesn’t last too long.
That kind of move could bring back young talent for the Cardinals, or it could simply be the first step in a bigger push to get the roster pointed in the right direction again. The future in St. Louis is brighter than it has been in several years, and that may be the moment to get aggressive.
It will be interesting to see what Chaim Bloom is thinking this offseason.
In Other News...
Masyn Winn Return Still Leaves Cardinals With One Infield Concern
Masyn Winns return has been trending in the right direction for the Cardinals, but it is not happening yet. He is still on the injured list and will not be activated for Mondays game because he is still feeling pain when swinging, even after a recent full workout suggested he was getting close. Winn fractured his left thumb sliding into a base last month, and his absence has been felt with the Cardinals already missing both starting middle infielders.
The encouraging part for St. Louis is that Winn appears to be nearing a comeback, and his return would give the club more flexibility in the lineup. For now, though, the Cardinals are still waiting on a healthier infield picture to take shape, and Winns bat has one more hurdle to clear before he can give them that boost. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Just Made Cooper Hjerpes Role A Lot More Interesting
Cooper Hjerpes first big league appearance gave the Cardinals exactly the kind of look they hoped for when they called him up. In relief against the Rockies, the left-hander spun four hitless innings with six strikeouts, showing enough poise and swing-and-miss stuff to make his debut feel more like a statement than a stopgap.
What makes his role especially intriguing now is the way St. Louis plans to handle him going forward. Oliver Marmol said Hjerpe wont fit neatly into either the traditional starter or reliever bucket the rest of the season, instead working in a piggyback setup while staying on a starters schedule. Hjerpe arrived after Hancel Rincon was optioned following a rough start to his own stint on the roster, so the Cardinals are already making one adjustment while trying to figure out how best to use the new arm they just saw flash. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans May Need To Rethink What Counts As A Starter's Workload
The old benchmark for a starters season has been slipping away across the sport, and the Cardinals are managing their pitching with that reality in mind. Around Major League Baseball, fewer arms are getting anywhere near 200 innings, and St. Louis is following the same industry-wide trend by watching workloads closely instead of treating volume alone as proof a pitcher is being properly developed.
For Cardinals fans, that can take some getting used to, especially when a young arm is handled in shorter bursts or asked to build up gradually over the course of a season. Leahy and Tanner Franklin are both examples of that careful approach, with the organization balancing present usage against future durability, and the bigger question is no longer whether the Cardinals are being conservative but how much of the modern starters job description has changed for everyone. [Read more 🡒]