Feb 16, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher prospect Grayson Tarlow (right) walks with pitcher Hunter Dobbins (40) during spring training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Cardinals Get Much-Needed Good Hunter Dobbins News

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Feb 21, 2026 2:41 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals got some good news on Saturday.

St. Louis acquired two intriguing, big league-ready starters from the Boston Red Sox this offseason. The Cardinals landed Richard Fitts in the Sonny Gray trade and followed up by landing Hunter Dobbins in the Willson Contreras deal. The Cardinals landed a handful of prospects in the two deals as well, but these two starters are guys who can help the team out right away.

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When it comes to Dobbins, he's coming off a torn ACL. He suffered the injury last season. Overall, Dobbins logged a 4.13 ERA in 13 total appearances, including 11 starts, before his injury. On Saturday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reported that Dobbins had a follow-up visit and "all checked out well."

The Cardinals hurler is trending up

Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

"Hunter Dobbins had a follow-up visit in Wisconsin this week to evaluate his ACL recovery," Jones wrote. "All checked out well with the doctor, strength in the quad and the other surrounding muscles is where they want it. Cardinals circling up today to look at a plan to get him to full speed."

This is as good news as the fanbase could hope for right now when it comes to Dobbins. Early in Spring Training, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom noted that Dobbins was "right on track" arm-wise. He noted that after Dobbins' follow-up, the club would be able to put together a timeline for his recovery.

"Hunter is doing well," Bloom said. "Arm-wise, he's right on track. It's just because of the fact that [his injury] was an ACL, there's a progression there that we need to build out. So he's doing everything off the mound but he's not doing any kind of uncontrolled agility-type stuff. He's at a point mid-next week after we help him build out a progression for him and then we'll know more about timetable once we do that."

Things seemingly went well, so we should learn more about Dobbins in the very near future. All in all, this is good news.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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