In what has been a rollercoaster season, Andre Pallante and the Cardinals are hoping he can build some momentum in a positive direction.
Pallante is set to start Sunday’s series finale against the Padres in San Diego, with first pitch scheduled for 3:10 p.m. (St. Louis time). The Cardinals evened the three-game set with an 8-5 comeback win on Saturday night.
Pallante (6-7, 4.62 ERA) is coming off one of the best outings of his career — seven dominant innings of one-hit ball against the Marlins. That start mirrored his performance at the beginning of July. However, between those two strong showings, he struggled mightily, posting a 9.77 ERA over three consecutive losses.
If Pallante wants to stay in the rotation long term, he’ll need to find some consistency. He hasn’t delivered back-to-back quality starts since mid-May.
Recently, he’s been leaning more on his slider — with success. Since the start of June, opposing hitters are batting just .203 against the pitch. His usage of the slider has steadily increased, going from 23.6% in May to 36.2% in July.
Pallante, like Saturday’s starter Michael McGreevy, will be pitching close to home. Both are alumni of San Clemente High School, located between San Diego and Los Angeles.
The Padres will counter with right-hander Dylan Cease (3-10, 4.79 ERA), who’s enduring his roughest season since 2020. Cease has struggled with hard contact and home runs, allowing 1.29 homers per nine innings — ranking him in the lower tier of MLB starters.
Saturday’s win brought the Cardinals back to .500 at 56-56. They remain 5.5 games behind the Padres (61-50) for the final National League wild-card spot.