Cardinals Designate Southpaw For Assignment Amid Notable Roster Turnover

The St. Louis Cardinals are shedding ties with a starting pitcher that would best described as organizational depth.

The Cardinals were forced to make some tough decisions in order to protect prospects from the upcoming Major League Baseball Rule 5 Draft.

St. Louis added right-handers Adam Kloffstein and Sem Robberse as well as catcher Pedro Pagés to the 40-man roster, the club announced.

To make room, the Cardinals designated left-handed pitcher Connor Thomas for assignment.

The 25-year-old starter posted a 5.53 ERA with a 69-to-31 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .335 batting average against and 1.75 WHIP in 94 1/3 innings for Triple-A Memphis in 2023.

It's unclear if Thomas will be brought back should he clear waivers but it certainly made sense to protect the aforementioned top trio -- all of which are top 30 Cardinals prospects according to the MLB Pipeline -- over the struggling southpaw.

Thomas has a career 4.66 ERA with a 331-to-114 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .300 batting average against and 1.51 WHIP in 90 career minor league appearances. It's fair to call the former fifth-round pick a potential spot-start candidate down the road but his lack of swing-and-miss stuff makes him an unappealing prospect.

The Cardinals would likely be best to move on from Thomas as his underlying stats are far from encouraging.

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