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Cardinals' Reliever Rehabbing While Knowing His Stuff Plays in MLB
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- Cardinals' Reliever Rehabbing While Knowing His Stuff Plays in MLB
(Dale Zanine-Imagn Images)
For rookie St. Louis Cardinals' right-hander Max Rajcic, the whirlwind transition to Major League Baseball in 2026 yielded both the intoxicating high of proving his pitch repertoire plays on the game's grandest stage and the sobering heartbreak inherent to being a max-effort hurler.
A lifelong starting pitcher drafted out of UCLA in 2022, Rajcic embraced an organization's decision to shift him to the bullpen. While working closely with Minor League pitching coordinator Matt Pierpont and assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio, he unlocked more velocity and break on his pitches while adjusting to pitching in short-burst relief appearances. The adjustment demanded his best stuff right away in games instead of him trying to pace himself over multiple times through an order.
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"As a starter, you are kind of trying to save your pitches for those second and third times through the order," Rajcic said late in the season while still with the Cardinals. "Being a reliever, what I think helped me a lot was throwing my best pitches right away. Having guys like Matt Pierpont and Rob Cerfolio, they helped me go through the transition and made it easier. I was really glad I got to have them with me in that process."
Rajcic's transition to the bullpen got him to the Cardinals for his MLB debut on June 18 with two innings against the Kansas City Roayls. Over six relief appearances (9.0 innings pitched, eight strikeouts), Rajcic flashed the swing-and-miss curveball that gave the Cardinals' front office confidence he could play a part in a reshaped relief unit.
Then, came a July 3 game at historic Wrigley Field when Rajcic's solid start fell apart. Working in relief during a blowout win against the Cubs, Rajcic snapped off an inning-ending curveball for a strikeout.
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"I felt like a crack. It didn't pop and didn't hurt, but I did feel that crack," Rajcic recalled. "It was kind of like you crack your neck or something. So, I didn't really think too much of it at the time and I even went back out threw another inning."
When he attempted to play catch the following day, his elbow throbbed with searing pain. A subsequent MRI revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Doctors ultimately repaired his elbow by harvesting a tendon from his hamstring to reconstruct the ligament.
"I blacked out when the doctor said there's a tear in the UCL, and I was pretty much heartbroken," Rajcic admitted, noting that fellow young Cardinals' pitchers Quinn Mathews and Cooper Hjerpe offered vital counsel after suffering similar injuries in the past.
Seven weeks into rehab, Rajcic said he regained full flexion and extension, allowing him to touch his shoulder with his fingers again. Also, his hamstring has healed to the point that he can again perform weighted squats in the weightroom. While he acknowledged an outside chance of pitching late in 2027, the realistic projection likely points to 2028 for a full return.
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While frustrated that he was knocked out of action just as he was fulfilling his dreams at the MLB level, the 24-year-old Rajcic said he is attacking his rehab knowing his stuff belongs at the game';s highest level. For that reason, the Cardinals figure to stick by Rajcic as a long-range option out of their bullpen – even if the franchise must wait until 2028 to see him on the mound striking out foes again.
