Houston Astros v St. Louis Cardinals | Brandon Sloter/GettyImages

The St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen was in shambles at the start of 2025. Through April 24, John King held a 6.43 ERA, JoJo Romero owned a 7.27 ERA, and Chris Roycroft possessed a 7.94 ERA. Those are some ghastly numbers, but none were as horrific as Ryan Fernandez’s bloated 11.42 ERA that earned him a demotion to Triple-A Memphis on April 25.

The right-handed Fernandez had allowed 11 earned runs in 8.2 innings while surrendering five walks. His hard-hit percentage was an eye-popping 57.6% in that span, and he failed to command his formerly elite slider, allowing a .500 opposing batting average on the pitch, compared with an excellent .182 average in 2024.

The Cardinals have not found a strong replacement for Fernandez, as they have sifted through Gordon Graceffo, Roddery Munoz, Matt Svanson and Riley O’Brien in an attempt to uncover a reliable arm. Much of that revolving door was designed so the Cardinals could keep their bullpen pieces fresh, but they’ve clearly missed Fernandez’s steady presence that he displayed last season.

In his first few appearances in Memphis, Fernandez continued to scuffle, allowing six earned runs in 5.1 innings over his first six games. But he’s turned a corner since then, and the Cardinals could soon come calling for his services again.

Fernandez has improved his numbers significantly in Memphis over his past few games.

In his last eight relief appearances, Fernandez has a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings and has fanned 16 batters over that stretch while holding opponents to a .171 average. Something has clearly clicked for the pitcher, and with the Cardinals holding only one off day for the rest of June, it will be all hands on deck in an attempt to preserve the bullpen. Fernandez should be considered a legitimate option to rejoin the team in the near future.

The Cardinals deployed Michael McGreevy for a spot start on June 8 and are likely to send him back to Memphis. It would appear to be a perfect time to promote Fernandez; however, he threw 32 pitches in Memphis on the day of McGreevy’s start with the Cardinals, so St. Louis is likely to look elsewhere to fill the gap.

Fernandez’s turnaround should elicit a massive sigh of relief from the Cardinals as they look to stabilize the bridge to Ryan Helsley when closing games out. With Kyle Leahy sputtering in his past few relief appearances, a revitalized Fernandez couldn’t have arrived at a better time.