Michael McGreevy's Role With Cardinals Addressed By Insider

The St. Louis Cardinals are sending Michael McGreevy to the mound once again on Tuesday to take on the Chicago Cubs.

It will be his fourth big league appearance of the season so far. He impressed in his first three and surely is going to be a fixture in this rotation hopefully for a long time. So, what does his role look like moving forward? The Cardinals have used him in a role to make spot starts when there aren't many off days. St. Louis has been dilligent about its rest schedule for its starting pitchers this year and it has paid off so far. When the schedule has gotten tight, that's when the team has turned to McGreevy.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch addressed McGreevy's role in the rotation.

"With each passing cameo appearance in the majors and the inevitable return to the minors his role requires, the Cardinals hope that Michael McGreevy hears the same message," Goold said. "'He knows he belongs,' manager Oliver Marmol said. Eventually, that means he’ll stay...

"The Cardinals identified Tuesday as their next time to utilize McGreevy as a sixth starter, and off-days ahead mean they may downshift soon after. A rainout this past week in Chicago gave McGreevy the unplanned start, and he made the most of it despite not have the best of his stuff, he said. After the game he said it was a day with difficult travel to meet a need in the majors and 'one of those outings you have to put your head down and grind.' That would also describe his season. For now."

Right now, there doesn't seem to be a clear pathway to a consistent role in the rotation. Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas are firmly planted and it has been reported that neither are interested in waiving their no-trade clause. Outside of these two, the other three starters are Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, and Erick Fedde. If McGreevy is going to have a consistent role in the near future, it likely would mean the team would move to six-man rotation -- which they have shown indication towards. Or, someone gets moved ahead of next months' trade deadline.

The earliest he could be up consistently barring an injury doesn't seem to be until late July, but that's just speculation based on the trade deadline.