Kyle Leahy has turned the Cardinals’ rotation question into one of the more encouraging storylines in the organization.
A few months ago, plenty of fans wanted the experiment to end. Now Leahy is stacking up a run that looks nothing like a placeholder starter.
Since the All-Star break, he has posted the lowest ERA among National League starters at 1.70. Stretch that back to June 23, and he still sits atop the league over his last 11 starts with a 1.28 ERA.
This hasn’t been smoke and mirrors, either. Leahy has been missing more bats as the season wears on while also giving up softer contact, which has kept real damage off the board. He’s looked like a frontline starter for a meaningful stretch, and that’s a huge shift for a pitcher who was never viewed as a headliner in the first place.
Leahy’s path makes the Cardinals’ pitching development look especially sharp. Drafted in the 17th round in 2018, he moved between starting and relieving in the minors before reaching the majors as a reliever in 2023. The Cardinals then eased him back into starting in 2025, and in his first season in the rotation he owns a 3.13 ERA across 25 starts.
That kind of patience matters, but so does the work being done behind the scenes. The Cardinals’ new player development and performance staffs deserve credit for how they work with the field staff to get more out of players. Leahy’s jump gives the club a real option for the future, and it also strengthens the belief that the organization can keep building pitching from within.
The clearest proof of that might be Liam Doyle. The Cardinals took him fifth overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, pushed him aggressively to Double-A, and asked him to sharpen pitches beyond his fastball. The early returns were rough: in his first 12 Double-A starts, he had a 6.08 ERA, walked 12.8% of the batters he faced, and struck out 29.8%.
Now the picture looks very different. Over his last nine starts, Doyle has a 1.60 ERA and has struck out 32% of the hitters he’s faced.
He’s also been going five innings or more regularly for Springfield. His recent line against Double-A hitters keeps backing that up, including a 5.1-inning outing with four hits, no runs, one walk and six strikeouts.
The broader farm system is loaded with arms, too. Tanner Franklin is climbing fast enough to start pushing toward top-100 recognition.
Yhoiker Fajardo is excelling at Double-A despite not turning 20 yet. Quinn Mathews has shown flashes in the majors, and Cooper Hjerpe looks like the next one in line to debut.
There’s more depth behind them with Brandon Clarke, Daniel Eagen, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Jacob Odle, Tegan Kuhns, Tekoah Roby, Mason Molina and others in the mix. The Cardinals may have run into their current ceiling on the major-league staff, but the pipeline suggests that won’t last forever. By 2027, and especially 2028, there should be more dynamic arms ready to step in.
For now, Leahy joins Michael McGreevy and Andre Pallante as stable pieces for next season’s rotation picture. Quinn Mathews, Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts should also factor in, while Hjerpe remains intriguing and Roby is expected back from injury. The Cardinals could even add another starter or two, much like they did with Dustin May this past offseason.
Leahy’s rise also gives St. Louis flexibility.
Pallante is a useful starter who is nearing free agency and could bring back a strong return in a trade, while Matthew Liberatore appears headed for a change of scenery. Long term, Leahy still profiles best as a back-end starter, but if this level of performance carries into 2027, he could become something more.
And with Doyle, Franklin, Fajardo and the rest moving up behind him, the Cardinals suddenly have a lot of pitching coming.
In Other News...
Cardinals Suddenly Have Another Third Base Concern to Watch
A new third-base wrinkle surfaced for the Cardinals when Blaze Jordan left Mondays game against the Orioles after injuring his left foot and ankle. Nolan Gorman took over at third base once Jordan was removed, giving St. Louis an immediate in-game answer, but also reminding the club how quickly the position can become a moving target.
The Cardinals are expecting Jordan to miss some time while the exact severity of the injury is still being determined, which leaves the situation in a holding pattern for now. For a team trying to keep its infield stable, the next few days will matter, because the path forward at third base may depend on how long Jordan is sidelined and how the club chooses to cover the spot in the meantime. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Suddenly Have A New Injury Concern After Blaze Jordans Big Night
Blaze Jordans night against the Orioles had already featured one of the louder swings of the game, a 416-foot home run that helped set the tone before the Cardinals found themselves dealing with a different kind of headline. The third baseman was active all evening and looked to have given St. Louis exactly the kind of impact it wanted from him at the plate.
Then the game turned in the eighth inning, when Jordan came up awkwardly after tagging a runner and had to leave the field with help because of pain in his left foot or ankle. Nolan Gorman moved over to third base in his place, and now the Cardinals have a new injury situation to monitor after a promising performance took an uneasy turn. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Have One Clear Problem Standing Between Progress And Contention
The early optimism around the Cardinals has faded into a familiar midseason reality, as a strong start has given way to a record below .500 and a spot more than five games back in the wild-card race. There has still been reason to watch, especially with young players such as JJ Wetherholt, Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson showing encouraging growth, but the standings have a way of sharpening the conversation in St. Louis.
What stands out most now is how clearly the bullpen has separated itself from the rest of the roster. A 4.48 ERA from that group has left the Cardinals without the kind of dependable late-inning arms contenders usually lean on, and the trade deadline only underscored the issue after the club moved on from pieces like Dustin May and JoJo Romero. The front office appears poised to treat relief help as an offseason priority, because progress from the young core will only go so far if the run prevention behind it never stabilizes. [Read more 🡒]