Cardinals Call 5-Foot-9 Right-Hander Up to Triple-A After Brief Demotion

The St. Louis Cardinals' season looks to be coming off the rails. After a hot start to the year, they began to slump towards the end of the first half, and now they sit just three games above .500 with less than two weeks to go until the trade deadline.

They seem to be trending towards selling at this point. But they still have a roster to manage, as well as several minor league affiliates. They made a flurry of roster moves on Thursday, one of which was to promote right-hander Brandt Thompson from Triple-A Memphis after a brief stint at Double-A Springfield.

RHP Brandt Thompson has been transferred from Springfield (AA) to Memphis (AAA).

OF Travis Honeyman (AA) has been placed on the 7-day IL.

INF Trey Paige (AA) has been reinstated from the Development List.

RHP Keiverson Ramírez has been transferred from the FCL to Palm Beach…
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) July 23, 2026

Cardinals Promote 5-Foot-9 Right-Hander

Thompson was selected by the Cardinals in the 17th round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Missouri State University. He made his professional debut last season and jumped all the way from High-A to Double-A.

This season, he has struggled a bit, posting a 5.13 ERA in 10 starts and eight relief appearances, but he has averaged 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. He was briefly sent down to Double-A last week. With Springfield, he has averaged 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Walks have been a probem for Thompson, and he has averaged 3.8 per nine between Double-A and Triple-A this season. But when he's right, he can pack a punch with the strikeouts.

The Cardinals have been doing their best to add pitchers with more swing and miss in drafts in recent years, and Thompson can certainly provide that. He clearly has had some issues with walks and keeping his ERA down, but the Cardinals also must see something they like if they are promoting him to Triple-A.

Perhaps at some point later this season or potentially next year, he could find his way to the major leagues. The Cardinals do need some more MLB ready starting pitching in their system, so having one more guy to go along with Quinn Mathews, Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins and Brycen Mautz would be beneficial for St. Louis.

He can be used as a starter and a reliever, so it will be interesting to see how the Cardinals decide to use him while he's back up at Triple-A. There are certainly ways for them to maximize his potential as they navigate the rest of the season, as well as prepare themselves for 2027 and beyond.

The Cardinals are in an interesting spot as they look for more organizational pitching depth ahead of the trade deadline.

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