Cardinals Have AAA Arms Ready to Replace Chris Roycroft

The St. Louis Cardinals should look to make a change on the sooner side.

Feb 14, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Roycroft (58) delivers a pitch during a spring training workout at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The biggest weakness for the St. Louis Cardinals right now is the bullpen and that was on display on Wednesday.

St. Louis faced off against the San Diego Padres and ended up losing, 6-1. Kyle Leahy got the start for St. Louis and allowed three earned runs in six innings pitched. It was a solid showing and he exited with the Cardinals losing, 3-1. Not great, but the Cardinals were still in the contest, though. That changed late.

The Cardinals turned to 28-year-old righty Chris Roycroft for the final 1 1/3 innings of the contest. He allowed three earned runs and tossed 42 pitches. Of his 42 pitches, only 22 were for strikes. Now, he has a 15.19 ERA on the season across seven appearances in the majors this season.

The Cardinals Need To Make A Change

Feb 22, 2026; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Chris Roycroft (58) delivers a pitch against the Houston Astros during the third inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

At this point, the Cardinals arguably should make a change in the bullpen involving Roycroft. Of course, seven games are a small sample size. But the Cardinals have options at their disposal if they want to make a change.

One thing that the Caridnals easily could do is promote Hunter Dobbins back up to the big league club. In that scenario, the club could either use Dobbins out of the bullpen in place of Roycroft. Or, they could shift Leahy back to the bullpen, where he had success in 2025, and have Dobbins in the starting rotation.

If the Cardinals didn't turn to Dobbins, another option to consider down in Triple-A is 23-year-old righty Luis Gastelum. He entered the day on Wednesday with a 2.68 ERA in 29 outings for Triple-A Memphis. It's hard to argue against him as a better option for St. Louis right now. Roycroft has pitched in 23 games down in the minors and has a 5.84 Triple-A ERA. Max Rajcic arguably would be another intriguing guy to watch with a 2.95 ERA in 25 Triple-A outings this season.

If the Cardinals wanted to move Leahy to the bullpen and not promote Dobbins, Quinn Mathews is another guy turning heads down in the minors and who should be an option for the big league club in the not-so-distant future as well. All in all, there are options at the Cardinals' disposal if they want to make a change and at this point, they arguably should. This team is very good and could be a playoff team. They have shown a willingness to make swift moves already this season. It's time to make another.