Inside The Cardinals

Oli Marmol Has High Praise For Cardinals Breakout Star Kyle Leahy

Kyle Leahy has been a breakout star for the Cardinals.
Zach Pressnell|
Apr 16, 2025; St. Louis, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy (62) pitches in relief in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images
Apr 16, 2025; St. Louis, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy (62) pitches in relief in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

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The St. Louis Cardinals have been the hottest team in baseball for the last two weeks. While they've seen some solid offensive performances, it's been the pitching staff, both the rotation and the bullpen, that's carried the load.

Despite big names like Ryan Helsley, Sonny Gray, and Erick Fedde on the staff, Cardinals reliever Kyle Leahy has been the most impressive pitcher on the team.

On Monday night, Leahy tossed 2 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, including huge outs against left-handed sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Leahy gave the Cardinals a chance to win, and manager Oli Marmol had high praise for the righty following the 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

“He’s been good all year,” Marmol said of Leahy. “But to be able to do what he did today and go through both Harper and Schwarber and then get that righty lane and hand it over to JoJo? That was the game.

“(The coaching staff) talked about it before the game. Both (Harper and Schwarber) have been better left-on-left, so we should just take our best arm against them. It helped that Leahy was pretty efficient, and it was great that there was a lefty lane created (before).”

On the season, Leahy has tossed 24 2/3 innings and only surrendered nine hits and three earned runs. He's dominated righties (.109/.146/.196 slash line against) and lefties (.077/.250/.192 slas line against).

St. Louis will continue to rely on him in huge spots, especially considering the praise Marmol has for the righty. If Leahy can continue to throw like this, the Cardinals will have one of the better bullpen weapons in the National League.

More MLB: Can Surging Cardinals Steal NL Central From Powerhouse Cubs?

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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