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Cardinals' Veteran Pitcher Pulled Off Stellar Comeback in 2026
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- Cardinals' Veteran Pitcher Pulled Off Stellar Comeback in 2026
(Benny Sieu-Imagn Images)
Growth, as St. Louis Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol pointed out repeatedly over the final month of the 2026 season, can be measured in a variety of ways.
One way, of course, is the standings – an area where the Cardinals fell back a win from 2025 (78-84) to 2026 (77-85), one that was somewhat expected with the widespread youth on the roster and the club selling off veteran pitchers JoJo Romero and Dustin May for prospects at the MLB Trade Deadline.
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Instead, the Cardinals tried to evaluate areas of growth in non-traditional ways in a non-traditional season in St. Louis.
Growth was having a defined core group of players – Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Masyn Winn, Michael McGreevy, Kyle Leahy and Riley O'Brien – take major steps in their games and evolve into building blocks.
Growth was seeing Leo Bernal, Joshua Baez, Quinn Mathews, Cooper Hjerpe and Nathan Church live up to the hype that followed them from the Minor Leagues and show signs they can be depended on going forward.
Growth was Andre Pallante and Gordon Graceffo shaking off the struggles of 2025 and showing the fortitude to change the trajectory of their careers.
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"This is a really young group, but there's been a lot of progress with so many of these guys," Marmol said. "You can go up and down the lineup and you see growth from so many of our guys. Then, go to the rotation and what McGreevy, Pallante and Leahy did this season, and the bullpen as well. Our staff has really enjoyed pouring into that group. They are hungry for information and they want to be coaches, so that's made it a lot of fun."
However, as president of baseball operation Chaim Bloom reminds, the Cardinals still have major gulfs between them and MLB's top teams. The National League champion Brewers, after all, finished 26 games ahead of St. Louis and battered the Cards in 11 of 13 head-to-head meetings. Much more growth is needed for the Cards to better navigate the difference the rebuilding and contending.
With growth being the focus, let's look back at the performances by individual players in the 2026 season and how they will figure into the Cards' plans going forward in 2027 and beyond:
Player name:Andre Pallante
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Age:28
How acquired:Selected by Cardinals in 4th round of 2019 MLB Draft
2026 statistics:29 games/29 starts, 12-9. 3.83 ERA, 162 IP, 12 HR allowed, 110 strikeouts, 50 walks, .253 batting average allowed
Key numbers:A poor September, after the Cardinals were eliminated from the Wild Card race, put a damper on some of the numbers that Pallante put up in an excellent bounce-back season. His overall pitching Rule Value sat at 11 – in MLB's 75th percentile. His Fastball Run Value (7) and Breaking Ball Rune Value (4) were in MLB's 76th and 75 percentiles.
Looking back to 2026:Quite possibly, no Cardinals player – not even Jordan Walker – had as good of a bounce-back season than Pallante, who struggled throughout a disastrous 2025 season. How great was the turnaround? Pallante went from yielding 21 homers in 2025 to just 12 in 2026. He won a career-best 12 games – and that win total could have easily been 15-16 with some more run support and bullpen help in closing out games. His only blip came in August when he was hit with elbow tenderness in late August and he was forced to miss two starts, and his September was poor with the Cardinals playing out the string.
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Looking forward to 2027:Pallante vowed that he learned a lot from his struggles in 2025 and realized that he had to pitch with more confidence and conviction going forward. Those traits helped him greatly this past season. He pointed to an early July outing at Wrigley Field – when the Cardinals beat the Cubs 17-1 – as a key turning point for him. A Cubs team that had hit him hard mustered just one earned run against a much-improved Pallante on that day. The hope among the Cards is that he can continue to pitch well in 2027 and be the kind of front-of-the-rotation starter they need to end losing streaks and win critical games of series.
Denton's analysis:Pallante's about-face in 2026 spoke to his maturity and mental toughness as a pitcher. Last offseason, he went to won on his pitch arsenal and he was able to change some of the shapes on his pitches and his sequencing to get more swing-and-miss. In 2026, he had 10 Quality Starts (tied for second on the Cards) and he induced a team-best 20 ground-ball double plays. He also did a much better job of holding runners in 2026 when he allowed just 16 stolen bases and picked off two runners. Pallante, who has the most MLB service time among the Cardinals' arbitration-eligible players at 4.15 years, is projected to make $7.5 million in 2027 and the Cardinals will need him to be a front-of-the-rotation force.
