Can Hunter Dobbins Break Cardinals Out of Their Current Slump?

The St. Louis Cardinals are ice-cold right now and need to find a way to snap out of a four-game losing streak, including two straight against the Los Angeles Angels.

St. Louis will try to do so on Wednesday afternoon with first pitch against the Los Angeles Angels scheduled for 3:07 p.m. CDT. The Cardinals lost Game 1 against the Angels, despite a solid showing from Kyle Leahy. The Cardinals lost Game 2 against the Angels on Tuesday night after a tough night from Matthew Liberatore in which he allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched.

The Cardinals need something to go their way right now and are expected to turn to a hurler who hasn't pitched in a big league game since July 7 in Hunter Dobbins, per Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"Hunter Dobbins has a locker here in Anaheim. The Cardinals have considered inserting a sixth starter into their rotation for this stretch of 20 games in 20 days. Dobbins was an option and is here with the team," Guerrero wrote on X.

The Cardinals Are Turning To Hunter Dobbins

Jul 7, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Hunter Dobbins (40) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The decision is also reflected on the Cardinals' pitching probables page on MLB.com.

Dobbins came over to St. Louis this past offseason in the Willson Contreras trade, but hasn't gotten a lot of time in the majors yet.

This is the right call for St. Louis to promote him, though. Arguably, this should be the beginning of a change. Dobbins has pitched in five games in the majors this season, including three starts, and has a 4.03 ERA in 22 1/3 innings pitched. His last outing came on July 7 against the Milwaukee Brewers. That day, he pitched five innings and allowed three runs. Not great, but he gave St. Louis a chance to win. In his five appearances this season, he hasn't allowed more than three runs in a game.

If Dobbins' start goes well on Wednesday, then he arguably should stay in the rotation from here on out. In that scenario, the Cardinals could either shift Liberatore to the bullpen or even give him a reset down in Triple-A, like Nolan Gorman and Victor Scott II.

At this point, it's hard to argue against this point. Liberatore has a 5.18 ERA in 20 starts across 99 innings of work. Unfortunately, he has been struggling dating back to the middle of May. Dobbins is someone who could come and immediately give the club a chance to win games.

At this point, the Cardinals are two games above .500 at 51-49. If they don't want to sell pieces at the deadline in under two weeks, they need to snap this losing streak as soon as possible and get back on track. Dobbins can help with that.

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