Cardinals Assign Jared Shuster Outright to Triple-A After Clearing Waivers
The St. Louis Cardinals have officially outrighted left-handed pitcher Jared Shuster to Triple-A Memphis after he went unclaimed on waivers. The move comes after Shuster was designated for assignment earlier in the week. Because he has previously been outrighted in his career, the 27-year-old now has the option to reject the assignment and instead elect free agency.
Shuster, a former first-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2020, joined the Cardinals organization on a minor league contract this past December. His opportunity at the major league level came in early April when St. Louis selected his contract and added him to the active roster. However, his time in the big leagues this season was brief. He appeared in just two games, pitching a total of 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. During that span, he allowed two runs on two hits and issued two walks, while recording only one strikeout across 15 batters faced.
This short stint adds to Shuster’s growing but inconsistent major league experience. Over parts of four MLB seasons, the Wake Forest product has accumulated 145 1/3 innings with a career earned run average of 5.26. Much of his struggles can be attributed to below-average strikeout and walk rates. He has struck out just 15.3 percent of hitters while walking 10.2 percent, numbers that have made it difficult for him to limit baserunners effectively.
Shuster is known more as a fly-ball pitcher, and while he has generally avoided allowing hard contact, his inability to consistently miss bats combined with a tendency to issue free passes has created frequent traffic on the bases. This has often put him in challenging situations, contributing to his inflated ERA at the major league level.
His performance in Triple-A has followed a similar pattern. While he has shown slight improvement in strikeout rates and reduced walks compared to his MLB numbers, his overall results have not significantly improved. Shuster has not put together a standout season since 2022, when he split time between Double-A and Triple-A and showed more promise as a developing pitcher.
From a pitching arsenal standpoint, Shuster relies primarily on a fastball that averages just over 92 mph. He complements that pitch with a mid-80s slider and a changeup in the low 80s. During his brief time with the Cardinals, he also experimented with an upper-80s cutter, which showed some early effectiveness, though the sample size was too small to draw firm conclusions.
One important factor in Shuster’s situation is that he is out of minor league options. This means that if the Cardinals decide to bring him back to the major league roster at any point, they cannot simply send him back down without first exposing him to waivers again. As a result, any future promotion would likely require the team to keep him on the big league roster or risk losing him altogether.
For now, Shuster’s immediate future remains uncertain, as he must decide whether to accept the assignment to Triple-A Memphis or pursue opportunities elsewhere via free agency.
Leave a Reply