Why Cardinals Chose to Promote Jared Shuster

The St. Louis Cardinals managed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers on Sunday night, rallying from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Detroit by a final score of 5-3. Prior to the game, the team sent right-hander Chris Roycroft down to Triple-A Memphis after he posted a 12.27 ERA.

St. Louis promoted left-hander Jared Shuster in a corresponding move, who was with the club in spring training as a non-roster invitee.

The Cardinals had a few other options down in the minors that they could have potentially turned to. However, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explained why they chose to promote Shuster.

Why Cardinals promoted Shuster

May 1, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Jared Shuster (51) delivers a pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers during the ninth inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

"The Cardinals could not promote a player already on the roster unless there was an injury due to roster limitations in the first two weeks of the regular season," Goold wrote on Sunday. "That necessitated a move off the 40-player roster and led to adding Shuster for available innings. He was scheduled to start for Class AAA Memphis on Sunday."

Shuster appeared in two games for St. Louis in grapefruit league play, going 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA. Heading into Sunday's action, St. Louis had a starting pitching of ERA of 5.08, only receiving quality starts from Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy.

In case the rotation struggles continue, it will help for them to have somebody who can cover innings. Shuster has been a starter in his career before, and having an extra arm and possibly going with a six-man rotation at some point could be beneficial for St. Louis.

If the Cardinals' starters can't go deep into games, Shuster could help manager Oli Marmol save the bullpen. This also gives them an extra left-handed pitcher in the bullpen.

The Cardinals are 5-4 through their first nine games of the 2026 season, mainly because their offense has performed well for the most part, but Shuster gives them extra depth and potential innings coverage as they try to navigate the early part of the season.

It will be interesting to see how St. Louis responds to having a little more rotation depth over the next few days. Shuster owns a 5.27 career ERA. He spent the 2023 season with the Atlanta Braves and was with the Chicago White Sox in 2024 and 2025.

With Chicago, he was primarily used as a reliever, but he started 11 games for Atlanta in 2023.