After less than a month since their trade deadline acquisition, the Cardinals are moving on.
At the trade deadline, the St. Louis Cardinals upgraded their bullpen by acquiring reliever Shawn Armstrong in exchange for sending Dylan Carlson to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cardinals were buyers at the deadline, hoping to make a postseason run in the second half of the season.
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, St. Louis designated Armstrong for assignment on Tuesday in an unusual move. The 10-year veteran will be replaced by Riley O’Brien, a righty reliever.
Armstrong is a journeyman bullpen pitcher who fared brilliantly during his brief stint with the Cardinals. Armstrong, who joined the team in early August, is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA, 1.026 WHIP, and 12 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. He had a remarkable 153 ERA+, despite a tiny sample size.
The 32-year-old righty made his St. Louis debut on August 2. Things got off to a bumpy start when he allowed four earned runs over the next 4.1 innings. Armstrong, on the other hand, was outstanding in his next seven appearances, allowing no runs and striking out six hitters in 6.2 innings. The Cardinals called on him in back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday, and he pitched two scoreless innings.
The Cardinals DFA’d recently acquired reliever Shawn Armstrong
St. Louis’ bullpen has been inconsistent this season. Led by Reliever of the Year candidate Ryan Helsley, the group is ranked in the top 13 in ERA, saves, walks per nine innings, batting average against, and WHIP. However, the Cardinals’ relievers rank 21st or lower in holds, strikeout percentage, WPA, and fWAR, and dead bottom in strikeouts and K/9.
Losing Armstrong weakens the bullpen. But cutting him less than a month after signing him is even surprising, given that the team gave up Dylan Carlson to get Armstrong. The Cardinals selected Carlson in the first round of the 2016 draft. Before making his St. Louis debut in 2020, he established himself as one of the best minor league prospects. The following season, Carlson finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting.
Despite being a game below.500 entering play on Tuesday and 10.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, the Cardinals were motivated to make a playoff push. Starting pitcher Miles Mikolas recently asserted that the Cardinals could win 17 consecutive games if required, and the squad impressed Brewers manager Pat Murphy with their scrappy performance.
However, the squad has only gone 15-20 since returning from the All-Star break. While the Cardinals are only six games behind in the National League Wild Card race, they would need to pass four clubs to secure the final playoff spot. Baseball-reference.com gives St. Louis a 1.3 percent chance of making the postseason. Making matters worse, the Cardinals lost All-Star catcher Willson Contreras to a broken finger, which will keep him out until late September.
Armstrong is playing this season on a one-year, $2.05 million contract. With his release from St. Louis, he will go on waivers, and if he is claimed before September, he will be eligible to pitch in the postseason for his new team.
