Richard Fitts: Everything you need to know

Fitts has undergone season-ending surgery on his right lat, Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Fitts was placed on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Memphis earlier this week with a lat strain, and testing revealed the need for surgery. Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said Friday that the long-term prognosis for Fitts is good, but the operation will cost him the rest of 2026 and it's possible he also gets a late start to the 2027 campaign. Fitts was acquired from the Red Sox over the offseason in the Sonny Gray trade and had posted a 1.76 ERA and 11:6 K:BB over 15.1 innings at Memphis.

Triple-A Memphis placed Fitts on its 7-day injured list Monday due to a right lat strain. Fitts had gotten off to a nice start with Memphis this season, collecting a 1.76 ERA and 11:6 K:BB over 15.1 innings covering his first three outings. He likely would have been the first pitcher to get the call when the Cardinals needed help in the big-league rotation, but now that opportunity could fall to Hunter Dobbins (knee). Fitts is likely to be sidelined several weeks and perhaps longer, depending on the severity of the strain.

The Cardinals optioned Fitts to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday. Fitts' demotion signals that Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante have beaten him out in the camp competition for the final two spots in the Cardinals' Opening Day rotation. After being acquired from the Red Sox over the winter, Fitts had an uneven performance over his three Grapefruit League starts, posting a respectable 9:3 K:BB but allowing six earned runs on nine hits across 9.1 innings.