Prior to the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline, the St. Louis Cardinals dealt three relievers—Phil Maton, Steven Matz, and Ryan Helsley—away.
Despite this, the Cardinals’ bullpen ERA of 3.61 is the sixth-best in MLB. Riley O’Brien’s performance this season is one factor contributing to this situation. O’Brien has only made ten major league appearances in three seasons before to the 2025 campaign. O’Brien has made 31 appearances with the Cardinals this season, and in 37 1/3 innings thrown, he has an astounding 1.69 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 35 to 17.
According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, O’Brien has been one of the Cardinals’ biggest breakout performers this season, but the team may lose him to the Injured List because of shoulder strain.
Will the Cardinals see the hurler again this season?
“Riley O’Brien did not recover as quickly as hoped from his scoreless inning Thursday against the Pirates, and the Cardinals elected to give him the entire Reds series off,” Goold stated. “He will get an examination in St. Louis on Monday after continuing to feel tired around his right shoulder on Sunday. In the event that O’Brien misses another week or so, the Cardinals will be able to promote two pitchers to the pitching staff on Monday thanks to the discussion of the disabled list.
Chris Roycroft, a right-hander, is expected to sign with the Cardinals. Right-handers Roddery Munoz, Curtis Taylor, and left-hander Anthony Veneziano are also being considered for promotion as rosters grow as the month goes on.
There are currently just 24 games remaining in the Cardinals’ regular season. At this stage of the season, O’Brien’s season would at least be nearly over if he were placed on the Injured List. Now that September has arrived, the campaign is coming to an end in a few weeks.
A response about O’Brien’s condition should be expected very soon, possibly as early as Monday. We’ll publish additional information when it becomes available.
