Cardinals To Select Max Rajcic

The Cardinals are calling up right-hander Max Rajcic, reports Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Fellow righty Chris Roycroft will be optioned as the corresponding active roster move. Rajcic will also need a spot on the 40-man.

Rajcic, 24, was a sixth-round pick of the Cards in 2022. He was a prospect of note as he climbed the ladder, working as a starter, but his results backed up as he reached the higher levels of the minor leagues. This year, the Cards have been using him exclusively as a reliever. He did technically make one start but that was for two innings as an opener.

The results of the switch have been encouraging. Rajcic has thrown 40 2/3 Triple-A innings over 26 appearances, allowing 2.88 earned runs per nine. His 8.6% walk rate is around average while his 28.4% strikeout rate and 48.5% ground ball rate are both notably better than par. His four-seamer and sinker are both averaging around 95 miles per hour as he also mixes in a slider, curveball and changeup.

Roycroft has been up and down all year and it took him 42 pitches to get through an inning and a third in last night’s game. He was probably going to be unavailable for a bit after that performance anyway, so he has been sent down once more. That will give Rajcic a chance to potentially make his major league debut and see how his stuff plays against big league hitters. Since this is the first time Rajcic has been added to a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be easily sent back to the farm when the Cards need a fresh arm again in the future.