Zack

Thompson

Marmol told reporters that Thompson was not in consideration for Sunday’s start as they want the 26-year-old to continue to work on things. Matthew Liberatore is getting the start Sunday, but depending on how things go, St. Louis may not have a choice but to go with Thompson over the weekend.

Thompson will head back to the minors after making five appearances (two starts) for St. Louis this season. The 26-year-old posted a 9.53 ERA, 1.88 WHIP with a 20/8 K/BB ratio across his 17 innings of work.

Thompson averaged just 90 mph with his fastball today, which isn’t great. He still wasn’t hit particularly hard, but he walked four and gave up a homer to Kyle Higashioka. Thompson has a 6.97 ERA in two starts. Expectations were that he would have made the Cardinals as a swingman if Sonny Gray were healthy to start the year, but with the way he’s performed thus far, he might be sent down when Gray is activated.

Thompson got off to a rough start from the jump, as Mookie Betts connected on a solo homer to leadoff the game. He’d allow two more homers in the contest, both of them to Teoscar Hernández in the second and fourth inning, respectively. This was a tough opener for the 27-year-old lefty against one of the best teams in baseball, but fantasy managers saw plenty of these types of starts from Thompson in 2024. He’ll try to rebound next week against the Padres.

Thompson will take the ball after Opening Day starter Miles Mikolas faces the Dodgers on Thursday. It’ll be Lance Lynn, Steven Matz and Kyle Gibson following him to open the season. There’s zero appeal here for fantasy managers, unless you’re considering a DFS lineup stack with the Dodgers in this matchup.

Marmol added that Matthew Liberatore will be moving to the bullpen. Thompson has pitched well this spring and will get a shot in St. Louis’ rotation with Sonny Gray (hamstring) opening the year on the injured list.

While there’s a case for giving him Steven Matz’s spot, Thompson appears to be bullpen bound for the Cardinals, at least unless Sonny Gray lands on the injured list. Thompson has a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings this spring.

He’s given up three runs in 12 innings on the spring. Thompson has separated from Matthew Liberatore and firmly established himself as the top choice to fill out a possible six-man rotation or just step in for Sonny Gray if Gray isn’t ready for Opening Day.

The fact that Gray is back throwing just a few days after suffering a mild right hamstring strain during Monday’s Grapefruit League is an extremely encouraging sign. However, there isn’t a ton of runway for him to build up his pitch count and stamina with Opening Day roughly three weeks away at this point. The 34-year-old veteran’s likely absence means that at least a pair out of Steven Matz, Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore will make the club’s season-opening rotation.

The same hamstring cost Gray three weeks in April and May and the final two weeks of September during the 2022 season. With 3 1/2 weeks to go, he should probably be considered questionable for Opening Day at this point. Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore will be ready to step in if needed.