The St. Louis Cardinals made a quiet but meaningful roster move Thursday ahead of their series finale against the Baltimore Orioles at Busch Stadium.
With the club already planning a bullpen game and needing another arm after placing Peter Strzelecki on the injured list, they selected the contract of right-hander Cade Winquest from Triple-A Memphis.
The 26-year-old Fort Worth native will wear No. 63 and is now in position to make his major league debut whenever manager Oliver Marmol needs him.
Winquest’s path to this moment has been anything but straightforward. St. Louis originally drafted him in the eighth round out of the University of Texas at Arlington in 2022.
The New York Yankees later selected him in the Rule 5 draft last December, their first such pick in more than a decade. Because of Rule 5 requirements, New York had to carry him on the active roster all season or risk losing him. He opened the year with the Yankees but never appeared in a game.
After two and a half weeks, the club designated him for assignment to make room for Luis Gil. Winquest had struggled in spring training, and general manager Brian Cashman later acknowledged it had been difficult to find an opportunity for him while trying to win at the same time.
He cleared waivers and was offered back to the Cardinals, who reclaimed him in mid-April and assigned him to Memphis without immediately adding him to the 40-man roster.
There, he has worked exclusively as a reliever, leaning on a mid-90s fastball and a sharp curveball that scouts have long viewed as his best pitch. His strikeout rate has remained strong.
The move also carries a small piece of baseball trivia. Even though Winquest never threw a pitch in a Yankees uniform, he still received major league service time and salary during his brief stay on the roster, placing him among the small group of “phantom” players who officially reached the big leagues without appearing in a game.
For the Cardinals, the timing is practical. Strzelecki’s forearm inflammation created an opening, and Gordon Graceffo is already slated to start Thursday’s contest.
Winquest now gives Marmol another option out of the bullpen. Whether he debuts immediately or waits for a later matchup, the former Rule 5 selection finally has the chance to throw the major league pitch that eluded him in New York.
The Cardinals will look to avoid a sweep by the Orioles in the Thursday afternoon game.
Winquest’s presence on the roster is a reminder that development paths in baseball rarely follow a straight line, and that a second chance can arrive months after the first one closed.
