Cardinals Veteran Reliever undergoes season-ending Tommy Surgery as option to land another ace
The St. Louis Cardinals activated Giovanny Gallegos from the 15-day injured list Friday. The Cardinals have optioned Adam Kloffenstein to Triple-A Memphis as a corresponding move. St. Louis has a rare Friday off day, but it will have Gallegos back in their bullpen Saturday. The veteran reliever has been out since early May with a right shoulder impingement but didn’t pitch well on a rehab assignment. Gallegos allowed eight runs with a 5:4 K:BB over 6 1/3 innings. He will likely be eased into high-leverage situations once he gets more innings.
Kloffenstein made his MLB debut Thursday night at Rickwood Field , coming out of the bullpen to pitch a quick inning in the eighth of the Cardinals 6-5 win against the San Francisco Giants. Kloffenstein was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in a deal for Jordan Hicks at the trade deadline. Since coming to the Cardinals organization, Kloffenstein has put up strong numbers. This season, he has a 3.97 ERA through 77 innings in 14 games. The Cardinals also announced that Victor Scott II was optioned back to the minors with Kloffenstein.
Giovanny Gallegos Activated from Injured List
Gallegos, 32, allowed 12 runs in nine innings before landing on the injured list. It was a surprising showing from a pitcher like Gallegos, who is usually solid on the mound. From 2019-23, Gallegos was one of the reliable bullpen arms the Cardinals relied on. He posted a combined 3.14 ERA with an exceptional 30.7 percent strikeout rate against a 6.4 percent walk rate in 238 1/3 innings.
Gallegos is in the second season of a two-year, $11 million contract with a $6.5 million club option. Suppose he can look like his former self upon his return; that makes it an easy call for the Cardinals to pick it up. However, his disastrous start to the 2024 season says otherwise at this time.
St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operation John Mozeliak has been very stern on what direction the organization will take at the 2024 trade deadline: acquire a solidified fifth starter. The team has played excellent baseball over the past couple of months and have moved themselves into the second NL Wild Card spot. Hope says they can catch the Brewers for the NL Central crown, but reality says they are in the middle pack fighting for one of the three Wild Card spots which is a much better outcome than 2023.
Given the recent resurgence from the team, it appears the glaring holes in the roster are hindering their chances of withstanding success. The bench is lackluster in quality, the bullpen needs more reliable options to give the three-headed monster a break, and the rotation is in dire need of a fifth starter. The latter is the more focused problem for the team. With Andre Pallante covering innings in that spot, the team is still staying afloat, but everyone knows this cannot last very long.
