Tekoah Roby has drifted a little out of the spotlight in St. Louis, but the Cardinals still have a pitcher with real upside on their hands.
The right-hander, who was arguably the centerpiece of the Jordan Montgomery trade at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline, missed the entire 2026 season after Tommy John surgery in 2025. He also hasn’t pitched in a professional game since July 10, 2025. That absence, plus the Cardinals’ steady influx of prospect talent, has pushed him down the conversation in a system that suddenly looks very deep.
That doesn’t mean the talent disappeared.
MLB Pipeline’s Sam Dykstra has made it clear that Roby remains a name to keep front and center. When Dykstra was ranking farm systems, the message coming back on the Cardinals was simple: don’t forget about Tekoah Roby.
And after sitting out this season, Roby is healthy and leading St. Louis’ crop in the Arizona Fall League.
Roby currently checks in as the Cardinals’ 13th-ranked prospect on Baseball America and No. 14 on MLB Pipeline. There was a strong argument in 2025 that he was the organization’s best pitching prospect, and even now the gap between him and the top names in the system says more about the Cardinals’ prospect depth than it does about any drop in Roby’s ability.
The upside is still obvious. Both Pipeline and Baseball America view him as a mid-rotation starter type, and his pitch mix backs that up.
Roby throws a fastball, sinker, slider, curveball and changeup, with the sinker the only offering that grades below average. The curveball and slider stand out as his best weapons.
His fastball sits in the mid-90s, and the separation he gets from his changeup gives him a four-pitch mix he can really work with. Before the elbow injury, he was pitching well at Triple-A, and if he shows up to Spring Training at full strength, he has a real chance to push for the Cardinals rotation by the middle of the summer in 2027.
The Arizona Fall League gives him a chance to get back into game action and keep sharpening the pitches he has been refining during rehab. Roby has said he wants to improve that sinker, and his command will be one of the more interesting things to watch as he gets back on the mound.
The Cardinals already posted the 12th-best rotation ERA in baseball in 2026, behind a young group that included Kyle Leahy, Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy, Quinn Mathews and Hunter Dobbins. Dobbins won’t be there next season, but St. Louis could add Roby, Cooper Hjerpe, Richard Fitts and Jurragnelo Cijntje to the mix early, with Liam Doyle, Tanner Franklin, Mason Molina and others not far behind.
That wave of young arms is getting close, and Roby still looks like a major part of it.
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