Aug 30, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Michael McGreevy (36) throws out Cincinnati Reds third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes (3) at first base in the sixth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Cardinals' Promising 25-Year-Old Sends Pointed Message About Future

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Jackson Roberts | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 12:00 PM ET

The next wave of St. Louis Cardinals starting pitchers has given us plenty of reasons to be optimistic so far.

Sonny Gray is a top trade candidate this winter, and Miles Mikolas seems likely to leave in free agency. That leaves St. Louis in a position to give young arms Michael McGreevy and Matthew Liberatore all the starts they could handle next spring, plus top prospects Quinn Matthews and Tekoah Roby.

Of the younger names above, McGreevy brings the most potent combination of big-league success thus far and room to grow. The 25-year-old pitched to a 4.42 ERA in 95 2/3 innings, but if not for a couple of blow-up starts, those numbers could have been better than league average.

McGreevy has lofty expectations for himself this winter

D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

McGreevy isn't satisfied with whatever success he's had to this point, which is the most encouraging sign of all for Cardinals fans.

In fact, the righty recently spoke with Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and said his goal for the offseason is to get better at... well, just about everything.

“Just strengthening everything that I have,” McGreevy told Guerrero. “It’s a mix of everything, like, ‘Hey, let’s get stronger.’ Just try to add a little bit more (velocity).

"Just trying to make our pitches sharper and just build the body to weather a full big-league season. I’ve shown I could weather a whole professional baseball season, but these innings up here are more high-leverage."

There was a lot to like about what McGreevy did, as his 8-4 record and 1.25 WHIP suggest he has a long-term future in a big-league rotation. His low strikeout rate, however, indicates that he'll need to improve his arsenal to generate more swings and misses moving forward.

Still, the Cardinals had to like what they saw in McGreevy's first extended taste of big-league ball, and his elite 48% ground ball rate should serve him well even if he'll never be a strikeout king.

Next season will be a critical development year for the entire Cardinals team, and having McGreevy take the next step toward becoming a top-of-the-rotation arm would be a massive indicator of future team success.

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

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