Andre Pallante has been one of the biggest surprises for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022.
When Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz went down with injuries, the Cards were in desperate need of somebody to cover some innings.
Enter Pallante.
Pallante had been solid out of the bullpen, but he helped plug a hole until the Cards added two starters.
Fast forward to last night, the Cardinals needed some big outs after Jose Quintana got himself into a jam and didn’t make it through the sixth inning.
True to form, Pallante got out of trouble and breezed through his outing on just 26 pitches.
Katie Woo of The Athletic offered some praise for Pallante after last night’s game, saying that he has been one of St. Louis’ most valuable players this season.
Andre Pallante could make a case for landing in the top 3 of the #STLCards most valuable players this year. No matter the role or the time of year, he's executed whenever asked.
He breezes through 2 1/3 innings on 26 pitches to bridge this game to the bottom of the eighth.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) August 18, 2022
Pallante’s Reliability
This is some high praise, but Pallante certainly deserves it.
He has executed in the clutch every time the Cardinals have needed something out of him.
The 23-year-old is 5-4 in 32 appearances with a solid 2.96 ERA.
He has been a Swiss Army knife for St. Louis, capable of starting or going multiple innings in relief to save the bullpen.
St. Louis needed some big outs late in last night’s game, and Pallante certainly delivered.
This is why the Cardinals trust him so much in high-leverage situations.
His stuff has been electric all season long and he has proven time and time again that he’s a guy the Cardinals can trust when the game is on the line.
Pallante barely made the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster, but took his opportunity and ran with it.
Now, he’s emerged as a key arm in their bullpen that can be used in multiple roles.
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