CINCINNATI — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said prior to Tuesday’s game against the Reds that he wouldn’t name a starter until after the game played out. And after the game, he did just that, naming recently recalled Andre Pallante as his starter Wednesday afternoon.
Pallante, whom the Cardinals recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday, last pitched on May 17. He’d made four appearances for Memphis, including three starts. He threw 84 pitches in his most recent start, which made him a strong candidate to start Wednesday, if only based on the number of innings he could potentially cover for the Cardinals.
A reliever who pitched out of the bullpen in the majors over multiple stints from 2022 to 2024, Pallante also made 10 starts in the majors in 2022.
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He began this season in the majors in the bullpen, and he posted a 6.30 ERA in nine appearances (10 innings) with five walks, six strikeouts and a .318 batting average allowed.
In his time back in the minors, he’s seen much better results. He posted a 2.20 ERA with nine strikeouts and 13 walks with a .241 batting average against in 16⅓ innings. He said he’s tried not to focus on statistics when evaluating his outings.
“I wasn’t concerned about what the hitters in Triple-A were doing to me. It was more about myself, my ability to execute the pitches I know work up here,†Pallante said. “Just kind of grading myself based off of how often I executed my pitches.
“After every outing, I would go in my journal and write down what pitch I would put in a good spot and which one I didn’t. I thought that was a really good way of evaluating my performance.â€
Pallante said the inspiration for his journaling came from a veteran teammate — but not a member of the pitching staff.
First baseman Paul Goldschmidt was the one who spurred Pallante to start the practice.
“It’s something that Goldy talked to me about last year,†Pallante said. “I’ve been doing it since about then. It’s kind of like what’s going through my mental process. What was I thinking, and what was the result?â€
It started as a way for Pallante to keep track of and assess how he was going about things, and it also included a lot of positive statements to “reinforce that positive mentality.â€
It’s now progressed to breaking down how many of each pitch he threw within the targeted portion of the strike zone.
“Regardless if I went out there and got eight strikeouts or went out there or gave up eight hits, the execution was what I was looking at,†Pallante said. “It told a much more consistent tale than my actual outing.â€
Middleton to be reevaluated
Right-handed reliever Keynan Middleton suffered what Marmol described as a bit of a setback in his rehab from a right forearm flexor strain.
Marmol said on Tuesday that Middleton was set to be reevaluated and have imaging done on his arm before the next steps are determined.
Middleton, a free-agent addition this winter, has not yet pitched in a game for the Cardinals. He began the season on the injured list after he experienced forearm tightness in spring training.
After a period of rest, he’d gone through a throwing progression and then went on a minor league rehab assignment. He’s made five appearances for Double-A Springfield (Missouri) on his rehab assignment from May 14 through May 23.
He cleared one of the final hurdles of his assignment when he pitched in back-to-back games May 22 and May 23. However, he’d experienced soreness after the second of those two outings, and he returned to ºüÀêÊÓƵ late last week.
Gallegos getting closer
Right-handed reliever Giovanny Gallegos was scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, and how he recovered would decide the next step for his progression.
He could be closing in on a minor league rehab assignment. Gallegos has been on the injured list with right shoulder impingement since May 6.