Cardinals Likely Won't Wait Long To See Phenom In St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals have been stretched thin recently.

St. Louis knew June was going to be tough. The club doesn't have many days off this month, although Monday is one. The Cardinals have made a specific effort to give the rotation more time inbetween starts this season but that strategy has been tested this month. It's been a tough week or so for the Cardinals as well with St. Louis losing seven of its last eight games heading into the day off.

The Cardinals will return to action on Tuesday as they begin a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox.

On the bright side, it sounds like one of the Cardinals' most exciting young pitchers could get another shot in the big leagues soon to help fill in. Michael McGreevy has been talked about a lot so far this season. He's in the minors although there are a lot of people out there who have been clamoring for him to have a consistent spot in St. Louis' rotation.

The Athletic's Katie Woo shared that he is the "leading candidate" to get a spot-start when he's eligible to return to the big leagues on June 24th.

"But perhaps their biggest aid will be their off day Monday," Woo said. "St. Louis played 14 consecutive games and will play 16 straight beginning Tuesday. Already, the team is contemplating when it will return to a temporary six-man rotation, with Michael McGreevy again the leading candidate to take that spot when he’s eligible to be recalled on June 24.

'We knew this would be tough,' Marmol said. 'When you look at May, we were able to run out our guys almost every day, with every Thursday being (a scheduled off day). We’ve had to mix and match a little more and give guys opportunities to see what they can do with it. But we knew it was going to be a tough stretch. The guys are playing hard. Tomorrow’s off day is a timely one; we’ll get to regroup and then get back at it.'"

McGreevy has made 12 starts in the minors so far this season and he has pitched to a 2.51 ERA. He has appeared in two games at the big league level this season and he has a 3.09 ERA.