Cardinals Have Unexpected 'Early Contender' For 2026 Rotation

The St. Louis Cardinals have something they haven’t had in years: a surplus of starting pitching.

If you look at the last few seasons, pitching has been a question for St. Louis. In 2023, the rotation specifically struggled. That was in part because Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty were traded. But, the Cardinals were struggling before the trades as well.

The Cardinals signed Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson before the 2024 season. Gray is the only one of the trio still in town. This is partly because the Cardinals have been fortunate to have some young guys step up and land roles, like Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante.

The rotation is going to be a big talking point throughout the rest of the season and into 2026. Michael McGreevy has been someone who has gotten a lot of buzz, but he isn’t the only young guy who could land a role.

The Athletic's Katie Woo shared that Cardinals No. 11 prospect Tekoah Roby has emerged as an "early contender" for a rotation spot in 2026.

"One pitching prospect who has really excited the organization is Tekoah Roby," Woo said. "The 23-year-old (who came to St. Louis from the Texas Rangers as one of the returns for Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton in 2023) has exceptional stuff, as evidenced by his 66 strikeouts over 57 1/3 innings this year. Roby made 10 starts for Springfield before being promoted to Memphis at the beginning of June. He’ll need to continue racking up innings — injuries have shortened his last two seasons, and he has not logged more than 60 innings in a season since 2022. But he remains a tantalizing prospect and is an early contender to break into the rotation in 2026."

Roby has been great so far this season in the minors. He has made 12 starts overall with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds and Double-A Springfield Cardinals and has a 3.92 ERA to show for it. He recently was promoted to Triple-A and his first two starts haven't been smooth sailing, but he logged a 2.49 ERA in his first 10 starts of the season.