Cardinals’ 2026 Starting Rotation: Is Sonny Gray Enough?
As the 2026 season approaches, the St. Louis Cardinals are facing a major question mark in their starting rotation. With Sonny Gray as their ace, it seems that the team will only have 60% of a solid starting rotation. And to make matters worse, there doesn’t seem to be any immediate help coming from their upper minor league affiliates.
Gray, who was acquired by the Cardinals in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, has been a reliable starter for the team. However, with the departure of veteran pitchers like Adam Wainwright and Miles Mikolas, the Cardinals are left with a significant gap in their rotation.
While Gray’s presence is certainly a positive for the team, it’s clear that the Cardinals will need more than just one strong starter to compete in the tough National League Central division. And with no promising prospects in the upper minors, the team will have to rely on their current roster to fill the remaining spots in the rotation.
This leaves the Cardinals with a tough decision to make. Do they trust in their current pitchers to step up and fill the void, or do they look to make a trade or sign a free agent to bolster their rotation?
Only time will tell how the Cardinals will address this issue, but one thing is for sure: with Sonny Gray as their ace, the team will have to work hard to solidify their starting rotation for the 2026 season.
St. Louis Cardinals’ Starting Rotation: A Season of Assessment and Surprises
If the St. Louis Cardinals had one main goal for this season, it was to evaluate their current players. And in terms of their starting rotation, they have done just that, thanks to a combination of careful deployment and good health.
The Cardinals have had the opportunity to closely observe almost all of their pitchers who were question marks at the end of spring training. The only exception is left-hander Quinn Mathews, who had an impressive showing in camp after a dominant 2024 season in the minor leagues where he led in strikeouts. It was unexpected to see him not make an appearance in the majors in 2025.
However, this year has been more about Mathews learning how to maintain his body and mechanics for the demands of the big leagues while still producing decent results. Other than Mathews, the Cardinals have a clear idea of what to expect from their young starters in 2026. Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy have proven they can hold their own in a major league rotation, while Andre Pallante is a bit of a risk and Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby cannot be relied upon next season.
For Roby, Cooper Hjerpe, and Sem Robberse, 2026 is mostly a theoretical question as they are all recovering from Tommy John surgery. While they may make brief appearances in the big leagues, they won’t be major factors until they are fully healthy.
Hence has only pitched 21 1/3 innings this season, his lowest total as a professional. In his five years in the minor leagues, he has yet to reach 300 career innings, making him a bit of a gamble. However, the Cardinals are hopeful that he can contribute if he can stay healthy for longer periods of time. It’s possible that he may end up as a reliever, but it’s uncertain if his build and limited experience in that role will lead to success.
Despite surpassing his single-season innings limit and dealing with fluctuating velocity, Liberatore has emerged as a reliable starter who can eat up valuable innings. While his ERA+ may only be league average, it holds value in the eyes of the Cardinals, as evidenced by the contracts they have given to other starters in the past.
McGreevy is in a similar position, with a slightly below average ERA+ (94) and just under 15 starts this season. But combined with Liberatore, the Cardinals have a solid foundation for their rotation moving forward.
