The St. Louis Cardinals will try to avoid a sweep by the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday in St. Louis.
Before the final Orioles game, the Cardinals made a significant announcement about a pitcher who started the season on the New York Yankees‘ major league roster.
The Cardinals selected the contract of right-hander Cade Winquest from Triple-A Memphis on Thursday, setting up his major league debut whenever manager Oliver Marmol calls his number. He’ll wear No. 63.
Peter Strzelecki landed on the 15-day injured list with right forearm extensor inflammation retroactive to Wednesday, leaving St. Louis needing a fresh arm for a bullpen day that already had Gordon Graceffo lined up to open.
| ST. LOUIS CARDINALS STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Michael Graceffo (RHP, #44) • 7-1, 3.13 ERA, 38 K | ||||||||
| August 27, 2026 • Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO • 2:15 PM EDT • Orioles at Cardinals | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | José Fermín | SS | R | 6 | 34 | 6 | .239 | .672 |
| 2 | Iván Herrera | DH | R | 14 | 53 | 7 | .246 | .742 |
| 3 | Jordan Walker | RF | R | 27 | 97 | 18 | .285 | .846 |
| 4 | Alec Burleson | 1B | L | 21 | 98 | 3 | .291 | .839 |
| 5 | Javier Báez | LF | R | 4 | 9 | 2 | .146 | .656 |
| 6 | Luken Jordan | 3B | R | 2 | 25 | 0 | .246 | .642 |
| 7 | Ramón Urías | 2B | R | 2 | 5 | 0 | .152 | .548 |
| 8 | Nathan Church | CF | L | 10 | 44 | 9 | .243 | .663 |
| 9 | Pedro Pagés | C | R | 4 | 11 | 2 | .214 | .584 |
| Lineups subject to change. Javier Báez .146 AVG reflects a season-long slump. Ramón Urías .152 AVG reflects a small sample. | ||||||||
Winquest’s Winding Path Back to St. Louis
St. Louis took Winquest in the eighth round out of the University of Texas at Arlington in 2022, and the Yankees grabbed him in last December’s Rule 5 draft, their first Rule 5 selection since 2011, according to MLB.com.
New York assistant general manager Michael Fishman had circled Winquest three years earlier, planning to take him right after New York grabbed Cam Schlittler in the seventh round of that same 2022 draft. St. Louis beat the Yankees to him by a few picks.
Rule 5 rules forced New York’s hand. The Yankees were required to keep Winquest on the active roster all season or lose him. As a result, Winquest became the first Yankees Rule 5 pick to open a season on the roster since Josh Phelps in 2007. But he never got into a game. Manager Aaron Boone came close after a 5-0 win over Seattle on March 31, saying he would have used Winquest with one more run to spare.
Two and a half weeks into the season, New York designated Winquest for assignment to activate Luis Gil, ending the Rule 5 experiment without the Cardinals draft pick recording a single major league pitch, MLB.com‘s Bryan Hoch reported. Winquest struggled that spring, allowing eight earned runs on 13 hits and four walks across 10 Grapefruit League innings.
“It would’ve been nice to be able to find room to get him into a game. It’s hard when you’re trying to compete and develop at the same time,” general manager Brian Cashman said, as quoted by Hoch.
Winquest cleared waivers and the Yankees offered him back to St. Louis. The Cardinals took him April 13, sent him to Memphis without a 40-man spot, and set him developing as a full-time reliever.
| BALTIMORE ORIOLES STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Trevor Rogers (LHP, #28) • 9-8, 4.14 ERA, 114 K | ||||||||
| August 27, 2026 • Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO • 2:15 PM EDT • Orioles at Cardinals | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Jackson Holliday | 2B | L | 6 | 27 | 7 | .231 | .671 |
| 2 | Pete Alonso | DH | R | 32 | 91 | 5 | .276 | .881 |
| 3 | Gunnar Henderson | SS | L | 20 | 51 | 10 | .218 | .692 |
| 4 | Samuel Basallo | C | L | 17 | 48 | 0 | .236 | .740 |
| 5 | Christian Encarnacion-Strand | 3B | R | 7 | 27 | 1 | .264 | .820 |
| 6 | Dylan Beavers | LF | L | 6 | 31 | 5 | .250 | .723 |
| 7 | Coby Mayo | 1B | R | 17 | 48 | 2 | .212 | .709 |
| 8 | Colton Cowser | CF | L | 12 | 34 | 8 | .223 | .692 |
| 9 | Leody Taveras | RF | S | 8 | 49 | 10 | .228 | .662 |
| Lineups subject to change. | ||||||||
A Fresh Chance for the Cardinals Prospect
The Fort Worth, Texas, native spent 2025 split between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield, posting a 3.99 ERA with 110 strikeouts over 106 innings before St. Louis left him off the 40-man roster entirely, the move that exposed him to Rule 5.
His stint in Yankees pinstripes counted for something. Winquest banked major league salary and service time despite never toeing a big league rubber, officially joining baseball’s rare club of “phantom ballplayers.”
Since returning to the Cardinals system, Winquest has worked exclusively out of the bullpen at Memphis, mixing a mid-90s fastball with a sharp upper-70s curveball that scouts have long considered his best weapon. He carries a strikeout rate north of 30 percent.
St. Louis now hands him a roster spot the Yankees couldn’t spare. Whether Marmol gets him into Thursday’s bullpen game or holds him for a later matchup, Winquest will likely finally get to throw the major league pitch that eluded him in the Bronx.
Cardinals Announce Decision on Ex-Yankees Pitcher Before Orioles Game