The St. Louis Cardinals looked to an unusual place for their latest pitching acquisition: the Long Island Ducks.
That independent team in the Atlantic League recently rostered a former standout MLB pitcher who is now coming to the Cardinals’ organization.
St. Louis agreed on a minor-league deal with Zach Plesac, a long-time Cleveland Guardians right-handed pitcher. He’ll report to Triple-A Memphis.
Plesac made seven starts this season for the Ducks, putting up a 2.84 ERA.
His best season for Cleveland came in 2020, when he had a 2.28 ERA.
Since then, he has a 4.86 ERA in 58 outings at the MLB level, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
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The Cardinals have signed Plesac as a bit of depth behind a starting rotation that has stayed very healthy so far.
Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante and Erick Fedde have all made a dozen starts on the season.
Plesac, the nephew of long-time MLB reliever Dan Plesac, was a 12th-round pick in the 2016 draft out of Ball State.
He pitched five seasons for the Guardians, then threw three outings for the Angels in 2024.
His overall MLB ERA is 4.31, with a 27-28 record.
It’s a low-risk chance for the Cardinals to take to see if they can return the 30-year old back to his early-career form.
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