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Cardinals Run of Luck with Pitchers Injuries Ends with Two Hurlers Potentially Heading to IL
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- Cardinals Run of Luck with Pitchers Injuries Ends with Two Hurlers Potentially Heading to IL
Roundtable Sports' John Denton breaks down the arm injuries to Andre Pallante and Hunter Dobbins and details how they could derail the Cardinals playoff hopes.
Sadly, in life and sports, good luck always seems to have ashelf life, and when it ends a sharp regression to the mean usually tends tofollow in the harshest of ways.
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For the St. Louis Cardinals , their extended run of goodluck with starting pitchers and arm injuries ended abruptly on Friday. And whatfollowed was the kind of one-two punch that might finally knock the Cardinals out ofplayoff contention.
After incredibly going 23 months without a starting pitcherrequiring a stint on the Injured List with an arm injury – an almost unheard ofrun of good luck in MLB circles – the Cardinals saw two starters go down withpotentially serious arm injuries in a matter of about four hours on Fridaynight.
After testing out his ailing right elbow in a bullpensession on Friday afternoon, 12-game winner Andre Pallante was placed on the 15-dayInjured List with inflammation in his right elbow. Then, after battling rightforearm tightness late in his Friday night outing against the Phillies ,right-hander Hunter Dobbins left his start one pitch into the fifth inning withthat troubling pain.
Dobbins, who will undergo a series of tests on his forearmin the days ahead, is expected to join Pallante on the 15-day Injured List, sothat Saturday's starter, Quinn Matthews, can be recalled from Triple-A Memphis.Reliever Ryan Fernandez was recalled on Friday to take Pallante's spot on theroster and to try and fortify a bullpen that has been overworked in recentweeks because of short stints by starters and tight scores.
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The start date of Pallante's IL stint is retroactive toTuesday, and the Cards are hopeful that he might be ready to pitch again byearly September. As for Dobbins, who yielded five hits, three walks and three earnedruns in four-plus innings of work, the club is hopeful that they caught theinjury before anything was seriously damaged in the 26-year-old pitcher'sforearm.
"We didn't want to push through it after he felt sometightness in the forearm," manager Oliver Marmol said to Cardinals TV following the Cards' 7-6 loss to the Phillies in 10 innings on Friday night."I was watching his warmups and didn't love it. I think he's going to beOK, but I'll have more information shortly. But I just didn't want him to pushthrough it."
Prior to Friday, the Cardinals had not had to put astarting pitcher on the Injured List with an arm injury since Sept. 19, 2024.Even then, Sonny Gray was placed on the IL as a precautionary measure after theCardinals had been eliminated from playoff contention.
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The 2025 season was believed to be the first time since theWorld Series-winning year of 1982 that the Cardinals did not put a pitcher onthe IL with an arm injury, per St. Louis PR.
Pallante had to battle for a starting spot this season aftergoing 6-15 with a 5.31 ERA in a disastrous 2025 season. Pallante went 0-8 overhis final 10 starts of 2025 and went into the offseason looking to revamp theshapes and the mix of his pitch arsenal.
The 27-year-old right-hander, who has been in the Cardinalsorganization since being picked in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft, hasrebounded in 2026 by going 12-6 with a 3.57 ERA in 24 starts. His 12 wins aretied for ninth in MLB and sixth in the National League. He was lifted after 88 pitches and after surrendering a season-high 10 hits on Monday in Cincinnati -- apparently the night when he injured his elbow.
As for Dobbins, he was bounced between a starting role andthe bullpen and between Triple-A Memphis and the Cardinals early in the season.He moved into the starting rotation on a full-time basis after the Cardinalstraded Dustin May and lefty reliever JoJo Romero to the Brewers at the MLBTrade Deadline.
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Dobbins beat the Angels (zero earned runs, six strikeoutsover six innings) on July 22, but he suffered tough-luck losses to the Yankees (twoearned runs and four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings) and Phillies (one earned run andsix strikeouts in five innings). However, he rebounded to beat the Cubs (twoearned runs and seven strikeouts in five innings) in Wrigley Field on Aug. 16.
In 11 games (eight starts), Dobbins is 3-3 with one saveand a 3.67 ERA. He has struck out 52 batters in 54 innings.
