photo: Peter Strzelecki (Michael McLoone/USA Today Sports)
New St. Louis Cardinals 31-year-old minor league right-handed reliever has 77 career MLB outings over parts of three seasons.
St. Louis Cardinals release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced today (Saturday, July 25) they have signed right-handed pitcher Peter Strzelecki (STREZ-leck-ee) to a minor league contract.
Strzelecki, 31, was originally signed by the Brewers as an undrafted free agent out of the University of South Florida after also playing at Palm Beach State College.
Earlier this season, he made 23 appearances with the Brewers Nashville (AAA) affiliate and six with the Yankees Scranton-Wilkes Barre (AAA), recording four saves combined with a 1.16 WHIP.
The Queens, N.Y., native made his Major League debut with the Milwaukee Brewers on June 2, 2022 and appeared in 30 games through the end of the 2022 season posting a 2-1 record with a 2.83 ERA and one save, striking out 40 over 35.0 innings.
Over three seasons appearing in Major League games with Brewers, Diamondbacks and Guardians, Strzelecki compiled a 5-6 record, 3.44 ERA and one save over 77 games. His last Major League game was August 12, 2024 with Cleveland vs. the Cubs.
He will report to Palm Beach (A).
Brian Walton’s take
During recent seasons, the Cardinals have previously signed minor league free agents and acquired several players from independent league teams, but this is the first time in my recollection that they issued a press release. I find it a bit unusual.
Strzelecki is the definition of a journeyman. The Cardinals his ninth organizational stop, starting with the Brewers, then Diamondbacks, Guardians, Pirates, Rays, Brewers again, Yankees and Brewers yet again. Five of the nine occurred in the last 13 months.
He reached the majors with Milwaukee, where most of his appearances were (66), plus one game with Arizona and 10 with Cleveland.
In this order, he was traded, designated for assignment then traded, DFAed and traded for cash, released, DFAed and declared free agency, released and released again. The last four transactions occurred in the last 12 months and the most recent three were in the last two months.
In two stints with Milwaukee’s Triple-A Nashville team this season, Strzelecki logged a 3.42 ERA in 23 relief appearances but in between, after six outings at Triple-A for the Yankees, his ERA was 7.71. In 2026, he struck out 37 and walked just six and opponents hit a collective .252 against him in 31 innings.
The result of his work each of his last two stops was the same, his release – the most recent of which was this Wednesday.
I imagine Strzelecki’s Palm Beach time will be relatively short, and once any evaluation and tuning is complete, he will join Memphis. However, he is out of minor league options so his flexibility to help St. Louis is somewhat limited.
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