Pallante brings new pitch into No. 5 role

This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- Real and raw with himself following a rocky start to the season, Cardinals pitcher Andre Pallante not only accepted his demotion to Triple-A Memphis on April 21, but he attacked it with the sole purpose of improving, so that he would be better prepared when his opportunity came back around.

Because the likeable and highly motivated Pallante worked to improve -- instead of allowing the demotion to break his will -- the Cardinals' frustrating pursuit of a dependable fifth starter might finally have some much-needed clarity.

Pallante showed off his dramatic improvement as a reliable righty on Wednesday in Cincinnati when he baffled the rival Reds over six scoreless innings in a 5-3 win, holding them to just three hits and three walks while striking out four.

The difference now, as opposed to earlier in the season when the 25-year-old reliever had a 6.30 ERA in nine relief appearances, was a two-seam fastball that consistently ran in on the hands of righties and kept them from leaning out over the plate looking for his curveball and four-seamer.

Always a stellar option against left-handed batters since his rookie season of 2022, Pallante felt ill-equipped against righties before heading to the Minors to work on the pitch that handcuffed the Reds. It's one that just might change the trajectory of his career if he can keep it up. And with good reason: Over Pallante’s MLB career, righties have hit .320 against him with an OPS of .845, while lefties have managed just a .236 batting average and a .635 OPS.

Before heading to Memphis, Pallante had a very honest and blunt conversation with himself.

“I hadn’t been pitching well enough to be up there -- that’s just the truth of the matter,” Pallante said. “Going down [to the Minor Leagues] and pouting wasn’t going to get me to where I wanted to be. So I feel like I really took advantage of the time I was given down there.”

Pallante also wanted more from himself than he had previously shown the Cardinals. Used primarily as a right-hander with strong reverse splits against lefties, Pallante wanted to improve his arsenal so that he could be trusted regardless of the batter at the plate. In something of a nod to his high baseball IQ, the University of California, Irvine product learned to throw his curveball with more velocity, while also cultivating that two-seamer that jammed righties following an in-depth conversation with staff ace Sonny Gray.

“I feel like I have a lot of talent, and having my talent used up as a lefty specialist, I think I’m capable of more than that,” Pallante said. “My whole plan when I went down [to Triple-A] was, ‘How can I get righties out?’ While I was there, I reversed my splits and righties had just four hits off me in four games.”

While Wednesday’s personal progress was certainly great news for Pallante, it might be even more important for the suddenly surging Cardinals. Before Pallante’s gem that allowed the Cards to win the series against Cincinnati, the club had mostly run out of answers while trying to replace injured starter Steven Matz. In the 11 games started this season by Zack Thompson, Matthew Liberatore and Matz, that trio compiled a 1-5 record with a 6.75 ERA.

Even as well as the Cards had been playing of late, the No. 5 spot had been an Achilles' heel. Gray has been every bit the ace the Cardinals sought, Kyle Gibson has been a rotational rock, Lance Lynn bounced back from a rough start to May and Miles Mikolas seems to have steadied himself of late.

Was Pallante's first start an audition for the No. 5 job going forward?

“I think everyone is aware of that [audition],” Cards manager Oliver Marmol said bluntly.

“[Pallante] agreed before that he needed to go down and work on combatting right-handers, and there was zero feeling sorry for himself. He went down there with the right mindset of, ‘I’m going there to get better and when I’m needed, I’ll be better.’”

As it turns out, starting might be the best role for Pallante, even though he had huge success out of the bullpen as a rookie. Dating back to 2022, Pallante has not allowed an earned run in his past three starts -- a stretch that covers 17 scoreless innings. After Wednesday’s gem and proof that he now has the pitch arsenal to go through a lineup multiple times and keep righties at bay, Pallante said he welcomes the bigger responsibility as the Cards' new No. 5 starter.

“I told Oli that I’ve always thought of myself as a starter, and the more pitches I throw, the better I get,” Pallante said. “[Wednesday] was a good day, and I just felt like me on the mound.”