Richard Fitts Speaks Out After Missing Cardinals' Opening Day Roster

The St. Louis Cardinals flamethrower will get his shot at some point.

Feb 16, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Richard Fitts (35) throws a pitch during spring training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Throughout Spring Training, the St. Louis Cardinals had six hurlers mainly duking it out for five spots in the starting rotation.

Fortunately, the Cardinals have too many rotation options right now, instead of too few. That was a problem at points over the last few years. The Cardinals had six guys competing including: Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Kyle Leahy, Andre Pallante and Richard Fitts. Hunter Dobbins is someone to watch in 2026, but he's been brought along slowly in Spring Training after tearing his ACL in 2025 with the Boston Red Sox. Quinn Mathews arguably should be someone to watch in 2026 as well. But the six guys mentioned above were the hurlers mainly in line for a rotation spot. Earlier in the week, the Cardinals made their decisions and opted to send Fitts down to the minors.

The Cardinals flamethrower opened up

Feb 17, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Richard Fitts (35). Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Therefore, the rotation is. going to feature Liberatore, McGreevy, May, Leahy and Pallante on Opening Day. Fitts showed impressive stuff throughout camp. He's someone who will help this club at some point. There's an argument that he should've had a spot out of camp, but the Cardinals went in a different direction. Fitts opened up about the decision, as transcribed by Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“When it comes down to it, I’m not happy with it but I respect their decision," Fitts said. "And it’s something where I’m going to work as hard as I can to get up. Me being unhappy isn’t me being unhappy with them. It’s just I want to be in the big leagues."

Fitts made 15 appearances in the big leagues with the Red Sox over the last two years, including 14 starts, and logged a 3.97 ERA in 65 2/3 innings of work. One thing that is true is that Fitts' numbers weren't spectacular in camp. He had a 5.79 ERA in 9 1/3 innings and walked three. It's important to note that this is a very small sample size. He struck out nine batters. His ERA is skewed by allowing four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings of work on March 9 against the Houston Astros. For Fitts, he needs to clean up his command. If he's able to do that down in the minors, he should be up in the majors at some point soon.