Home › The Cardinal Nation Forums › Open Forum › Kyle Leahy
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January 24, 2025 at 9:31 am #275296
bccran
ParticipantDoes anyone know why the Cardinals keep guys like Leahy on the 40 man?
He’s 27 years old, has had a 5.71 ERA at AAA in 115 innings with a WHIP of 1.617. Prior to that, in AA he had an ERA of 6.28 and WHIP of 1.738 in 230 innings.It’s an insult to fans to bring a guy like him into a major league game.
To almost the same degree, why is 27 year old Chris Roycroft on the 40 man?
The Cardinal fans deserve better. There are still a number of much better alternatives on the FA market. A signing or two shouldn’t be held up by the Arenado situation.
January 24, 2025 at 9:41 am #275297I think the answer is the following:
1) These guys are inexpensive
2) no matter the team, there is always going to be some amount of low leverage innings that need to be thrown. Why pay more than the minimum for those kinds of innings?
3) These guys have options remaining. Free agents do not. That allows the team to better manage reliever innings.
4) Both of these guys have some unique qualities to them that makes them at least mildly interesting and since relievers are volatile, these guys could suddenly have a banner year if they suddenly harness those qualities.
January 24, 2025 at 9:50 am #275298bccran
ParticipantThanks for your response, Jnevel. What unique qualities do you see?
Also, what happened to the old procedure of inviting players to camp under a minor league contract with a chance to earn a spot on the major league roster?
January 24, 2025 at 9:55 am #275299Leahy’s results last season suggest an active roster spot to me. I didn’t know him before mlb, but have liked his results at mlb.
January 24, 2025 at 10:58 am #275300bccran
ParticipantAll in the eyes of the beholder. I cringed every time Leahy came in. Same with Roycroft.
January 24, 2025 at 11:09 am #275301That’s surprising to hear. Leahy’s hatred of base runners stood out last season. Late in the season he had the lowest whip allowed on the club, and highest strand rate of inherited base runners. May have finished very high in both. He shut down righty bats like Helsley, and he didn’t get blew up by lefty bats like Kitt.
Pass on a vet reliever.
January 24, 2025 at 11:35 am #275302Leahy’s starters’ arsenal provide a means to combat splits. The bump to his fastball will be key for Kyle, just as it is with everyone.
We could point out how Leahy at 96- 97 is way different than the Leahy who threw starters’ innings at Springfield sitting 92-94.
Graceffo at 97 is different than the pitcher we watched sitting 93. Roycroft at 98-99 is interesting with all that running life.
We can throw Zack Thompson in this group as a very notable example of the same ilk.January 24, 2025 at 11:53 am #275304Mo did outstanding on Kitt, but Middleton helped wash out those two FA signings.
Rule5 Fernandez (66.2 IP) is a steal, and both his and Leahy’s IP last season (48.2 IP) were significant. This is where Graceffo and Roycroft are hard to compare to Leahy (at mlb) on results.
Our PD mandidate should focus on in-house, and when I consider roster spots in the pen, last seasons IP carrying over matters to the development of the pen going forward.
Good point Nigel, and a reliever thread is a good discussion Cranny.
January 24, 2025 at 12:20 pm #275305bccran
ParticipantIn August, Leahy’s ERA was 4.50. In September it was 6.75.
January 24, 2025 at 12:27 pm #275307These 2 guys are on the margins of the roster. If they perform well, they will get to stay and replace someone like John King who would be Arb 3 eligible next season. If they don’t, they get quickly replaced by a whole slew of AAA starters that need MLB experience. That’s harder to do with a free agent signing. You lose flexibility.
And to answer your questions on unique qualities, for Roycroft it’s velocity and the unique way his pitches move coming from his arm slot. His downside is control. He probably doesn’t overcome that issue, but I’m willing to give his a few months of low leverage relief to find out. Perhaps even a little longer if there’s progress. For Leahy, it’s all about his fastball and the way he competes. I like him better than Roycroft and am happy to keep him given that he costs little and has options available.
January 24, 2025 at 12:51 pm #275310bccran
ParticipantThe 2025 bullpen, I guess, looks like this so far –
Helsley (28) – if not traded
Romero (28)
Fernandez (26)
Liberatore (25)
King (28)
O’Brien (30)I wonder if they’ll break in a guy like Roby (23) or Robberse (23) with some bullpen experience. Then there’s Thompson (27), Granillo (24), and Loutos (26) to consider.
If McGreevy (24) earns a spot in the rotation, that also puts Matz in the bullpen mix.
If you’re really going with giving youth a shot, it seems you would go with Roby, Robberse, and Granillo over
Leahy and Roycroft.January 24, 2025 at 1:06 pm #275311I still expect Matz to be traded (but admittedly it’s getting late) and I believe O’Brien will still have an option left as the team phanagled his innings last year to save it. That puts O’Brien with Roycroft and Leahy and the two newcomers plus Loutos as the Memphis shuttle. Probably one of them gets cut of DFA’d in Spring training.
I also still think we will see Graceffo in the pen. But that’s just my gut.
January 24, 2025 at 1:11 pm #275312Developing 50 IP arms yearly in a pen adds up quickly. Keep pushing them forward. They will sort themselves out. Don’t rent vets to block, develop.
January 24, 2025 at 1:48 pm #275313Don’t know a thing about Leahy, but Lahti spent his entire Big League career in a Cardinal uniform and went 17-11 with a 3.12 ERA in 286 IP’ed. Them’s CYA numbers for a season of work. He was also a member of the ’82 WS championship team and led the Redbirds in SV’s with 19 on the ’85 NL pennant winning edition. Wish we still had him but injuries to his right arm ended his pitching career at only 29 years of age.
January 24, 2025 at 2:05 pm #275315Post deadline pen will be a sight! I hope the in-house boys are ready. By seasons end, arms developed thru the pen could solidify a core behind the 3 arb arms. A lot of good could happen in the pen next season.
January 24, 2025 at 2:13 pm #275316bccran
ParticipantThe 3rd time through the lineup stats have put much more of a spotlight on the bullpen. Especially guys who can go more than one inning. The sixth and seventh innings have become more critical to get to the back of the bullpen guys. The high leverage guys.
January 24, 2025 at 2:15 pm #275317The Cardinal bullpen was the standout group of the 2024 roster and I expect it will be again in 2025. The bullpen is the least of our worries.
January 24, 2025 at 2:25 pm #275318I noticed informed prospect followers were agreeable with the Kittredge and Middleton acquisitions last offseason, due mostly to injuries w/minors minors depth and somewhat questionable readiness. That made sense to me last offseason, but are we there again? Or does Mo just want his credit card back?
January 24, 2025 at 2:33 pm #275320I think it only makes sense if they can shed some Nado salary. If that happens I would go after Finnegan and Grichuk and call it a winter. If Nado stays then the roster is probably set.
January 24, 2025 at 2:42 pm #275321Mo hasn’t added salary since Middleton. I hope he’s empty chamber 😉
January 24, 2025 at 3:34 pm #275324bccran
ParticipantIt’s demoralizing to take a lead into the sixth inning. pull your starter, and have the middle relievers get blown out.
That’s why I’m interested to see if they’re going to add any bullpen arms. Mo said they were going to.January 24, 2025 at 4:32 pm #275325That description doesn’t fit Leahy last season. It may next season 😀
January 24, 2025 at 8:47 pm #275327bccran
ParticipantLeahy in August of last year –
gave up 5 runs in 8 inningsLeahy in September of last year –
Gave up 4 runs in 5 1/3 innings.We can do a lot better.
January 25, 2025 at 3:00 am #275328I don’t understand how having a pitcher with Leahy’s 2024 MLB stats on the 40 man roster is “an insult” to fans. He pitched for the Cardinals in both 2023 and 2024. He didn’t pitch so poorly that he deserves to be cut, yet. It would be very easy to cherry pick and exclude 1 game in September, that was less than 5% of his season total innings pitched, and make his ERA look pretty good.
January 25, 2025 at 5:00 am #275329Fernandez (26) is one year younger than Leahy, so he starts his age 27 discrimination tour, this June.
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