MILWAUKEE — Being unable to pitch out of the bullpen for most of the season did not keep Cardinals right-hander Riley O’Brien from being part of the bullpen for all of this season.
A newcomer to the Cardinals who blazed his way to a spot on the opening day roster with a strong spring, O’Brien spent months recovering from a flexor strain, and still, he spent home games out in the bullpen with his teammates. That gave him time to see how relievers more seasoned than him in the role got prepared for their assignments — and also watch as his peers, as seasoned as him, pitched their way into significant roles for the Cardinals.
“You’ve got to be able to flip it on when it’s time to go,†O’Brien said. “A lot of times, you’re not going to have enough time in a quick spot. I’ve seen how you’ve got to be getting your body ready and getting your mind right so that when your name does get called and you’ve got to get hot quick, you’re ready to go and not caught off guard.â€
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Since his return to the majors this past week, O’Brien has indeed had to “get hot quick.†The Cardinals have not eased him into roles, using him often as a chase reliever, meant to either hold or quell the opponent.
At Yankee Stadium, O’Brien’s first appearance of the series was in the eighth inning with All-Stars Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton looming. He struck out each of them but also allowed a home run to Austin Wells. On Monday night, with the Cardinals trailing the Brewers by two runs, O’Brien had a chance to buy an inning for the offense to rally — and instead saw the game capsize on him and the Cardinals. He walked two and allowed a grand slam to rookie Jackson Chourio.
Manager Oliver Marmol called O’Brien’s initial results what they were.
“Mixed, to be quite honest,†Marmol said. “Look at the at-bats against Soto and Judge — you’re pretty impressed by how defensive those swings were. You look at the at-bat against Stanton, and it was pretty telling that it was not a comfortable at-bat. ...
“He’s on here (the roster), and we need to see what we’ve got.â€
O’Brien joined the roster in a move that cost the Cardinals a veteran right-handed reliever who popped up soon after with the hard-charging Cubs. To create a spot for O’Brien, the Cardinals passed Shawn Armstrong through waivers just a few weeks after acquiring him from Tampa Bay for outfielder Dylan Carlson. Armstrong got a win in relief just before leaving the Cardinals and had retired 15 consecutive batters. The move appeared geared toward getting a look at a reliever who could be part of the plans for 2025, and it trimmed some salary.
Within days of his return to the majors from Class AAA Memphis’ bullpen, O’Brien found himself some the kind of spots that have launched other young relievers into higher-leverage spots. Ryan Fernandez, an offseason addition like O’Brien, emerged quickly as one of the setup options. More recently, lefty Matthew Liberatore has seen expanded assignments in tighter spots.
“I love where he’s at,†Marmol said. “We’re seeing a completely different guy out of the ’pen. Just his mentality when he takes the ball — the higher the leverage, the better he is.â€
When Andrew Kittredge was unavailable Monday afternoon due to his recent workload, Fernandez moved into Kittredge’s eighth-inning spot. Without Fernandez for earlier in the game, O’Brien fit the task. Starting with the bottom third of Milwaukee’s order, the Cardinals saw a run of Brewers hitters who did not swing and miss much and had notable ground-ball rates. O’Brien’s sinker should play well — if it was in the zone.
He walked two of the first three batters as a prelude to a grand slam.
Challenging with the sinker “has been one of my strengths, and I might have shied away from it,†O’Brien said. “I think I just need to attack hitters a little better. Trust my stuff. It’s good enough to get best hitters in the game out and remember that.â€
Riley, 29, has the pitches that delight advanced metrics. The sinker he threw Monday night averaged 96.9 mph, and off of that, he plays a curveball and power slider. O’Brien got three swings and misses on his curveball Monday night, and with the slider, he averaged 91 mph. Two of the swings and misses against the Yankees lineup came on that slider. In his four appearances since returning the majors, O’Brien has thrown three innings and struck out six but also walked five and allowed eight hits.
The Cardinals are taking the month to see the pitches they were drawn to in the 2D of data on the 3D of the mound, and O’Brien has watched from the bullpen what an opportunity like his has meant for other relievers.
“That’s the ultimate goal: to come up here, have success and hopefully work yourself into a leverage role,†O’Reilly said. “That’s something I’m hoping to do the rest of the month.â€
Rotation set for Seattle but not beyond
The reintroduction Tuesday night of lefty Steven Matz to the rotation allowed the Cardinals to push Erick Fedde back a day and set their rotation for the weekend home series against Seattle. Beyond that, the Cardinals must still finalize their plan with right-handed veteran Lance Lynn and at what point next week he’ll rejoin the active roster and in what spot.
Sonny Gray will start the regular-season finale against the Brewers on Wednesday night. After the off-day Thursday, the Cardinals will face the Mariners with Fedde, Kyle Gibson and Miles Mikolas on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. That assures Andre Pallante at least seven days of rest if they return to him for Tuesday’s game at home against Cincinnati.
Extra bases
Pedro Pages, who started again at catcher Tuesday night, hit two homers in Monday’s game to complete a feat not achieved by a Cardinals rookie catcher since 1930.
In September of that season, Gus Mancuso hit two homers against the Philadelphia Phillies. Mancuso hit .366 that season in 76 games for the pre-Gas House Gang Cardinals, and he had a .965 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Despite fewer than 230 at-bats that summer, he finished 20th in the MVP voting.
- Luken Baker’s sacrifice fly Monday afternoon gave him an RBI in five consecutive games. He is one of three Cardinals since 1961 to have a five-RBI streak in their first 43 big league games, joining Albert Pujols (2001) and Jeremy Hazelbaker (2016), according to Elias Sports Bureau.
- Ahead of Tuesday’s game, the Brewers reorganized their bullpen by adding lefty Hoby Milner from the injured list and promoting Elvis Peguero. They optioned lefty Bryan Hudson, who pitched in Monday’s win, and placed Bryse Wilson on the injured list.