The St. Louis Cardinals have a plethora of pitchers in their minor league ranks. Quinn Matthews has already made his debut; Liam Doyle is working his way through the minors. Those are only two of the Cardinals‘ arms in a loaded farm, and more are to come through the ranks over the next two seasons. One of those possible options is St. Louis’ No. 12 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, Tekoah Roby.
Roby has missed the last year so far after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of last year, but the Cardinals got promising news on August 7. Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that Chaim Bloom said Roby is “getting closer and closer.” He might even begin to face hitters in the next couple of days.
Tekoah Roby’s Injury Riddled Journey
The Cardinals acquired Roby in a trade with the Texas Rangers in 2023, when St. Louis sent Jodan Montgomery to the eventual World Series Champions. He was the third round selection by Texas in the 2020 Draft and has reached Triple-A with St. Louis prior to injury. Shoulder issues have hindered the Cardinals young hurler since the acquired him and he has only made 30 starts since being traded.
With a mid-90s fastball and two fleshed out breaking pitches the arsenal is coming together nicely for Roby. The right hander has made just six starts at Triple-A and posted an ERA of 4.02 with 30 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. St. Louis has a talented pool of pitchers with similar timelines for arrival at the major leagues, Roby was once considered to be the cream of the crop but now will have to standout upon return.
If Roby can return next season healthy he could be pushing for a major league roster spot by season’s end.
St. Louis Cardinals Silo Of Arms
The Cardinals have a ton of youthful pitching in their organization, from the major league rotation to the lower levels of minor league baseball. Under Bloom the Cardinals farm system has made a 180 with their pitching depth. Bloom has made seven total trade as the president of baseball operations, five of them returned pitching prospects.
17 of the Cardinals top 30 prospects are pitchers. Aside from the aforementioned Doyle, Roby and Matthews, there is a sum of options that St. Louis will have in the coming years. Brandon Clarke, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Yhoiker Fajardo, Tanner Franklin, and Cooper Hjerpe, are all going to be competing for major league innings in the near futre. Bloom has made an emphasis of building from the bottom up to create a sustainable flow of talent to formulate competitive rosters year in and year out, and the pitchers were not shorted.
The next few seasons should be interesting as the Cardinals have young talent in the major league rotation that are team controlled for a many more seasons, that timeline overlaps with the arrival of their top prospects. Bloom has created a stream of talent that will create tough decisions in the future.
Cardinals Receive Positive Update For Tekoah Roby