The St. Louis Cardinals are planning to select the contract of right-handed reliever Luis Gastelum, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold and the Belleville News-Democrat’s Jeff Jones. Gastelum, 24, has yet to make his MLB debut.
It’s unclear exactly when St. Louis plans to select Gastelum’s contract. It likely depends on how the Cardinals’ pitching staff is used in today’s doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers. Jones reported that Gastelum was on his way to St. Louis on Tuesday morning and that he will be on the 26-man roster at some point within the next couple of days.
FanGraphs ranked Gastelum as the Cardinals’ No. 32 overall prospect before the season. The right-hander has been outstanding for Triple-A Memphis this season, posting a 2.27 ERA with a 28.0% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate over 43 2/3 innings.
Cardinals Plan To Promote Luis Gastelum During Brewers Series
GettyHOUSTON, TEXAS – MARCH 09: Luis Gastelum #27 of the Mexico in action during the 2026 World Baseball Classic game between Mexico and the United States at Daikin Park on March 09, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
The Cardinals signed Gastelum to a minor-league deal out of Mexico on April 26, 2023. He logged 26 1/3 innings between St. Louis’ Rookie League team and Single-A affiliate in 2023, posting a 4.78 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate and 3.3% walk rate.
Gastelum spent the 2024 season in Single-A, recording a 2.81 ERA with a remarkable 34.5% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate over 48 innings. His strong numbers in Single-A were enough for him to skip the High-A level entirely, as he played for St. Louis’ Double-A affiliate in 2025. He continued to excel in Double-A, recording a 2.19 ERA with a 35.4% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate in 62 2/3 innings.
Gastelum also played for Team Mexico in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, allowing just one hit and no walks with one strikeout in one inning across two appearances.
Because Gastelum has been absolutely dominating in the minor leagues over the past few seasons, he went from being unranked among the Cardinals‘ top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline, to 21st overall this year.
Gastelum isn’t exactly a flamethrower, with a fastball and sinker that average 94 mph. But clearly, he doesn’t need a 100 mph fastball to collect strikeouts at an elite rate. He complements his fastball and sinker with a low-80s changeup and low-80s slider.
Cardinals this season
The Cardinals dropped their first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Brewers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo., by a score of 4-3. Game 2 is scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. CDT.
The Cardinals have exceeded expectations by a lot this year, holding a 47-42 record despite getting rid of stars such as Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray this past offseason. It looked like a rebuild year for St. Louis, yet the team is still in playoff contention over halfway through the season.
However, even though they’re five games above .500, the Cardinals aren’t in a playoff spot at the moment, trailing the Miami Marlins by one game for the third National League Wild Card spot. Winning the National League Central is pretty much out of the question for the Cardinals, as they sit 9 1/2 games back of the first-place Brewers. But sneaking into the postseason as a Wild Card team is certainly very possible for St. Louis.
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