TORONTO — Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante is clear when describing the biggest difference since he’s moved out of the bullpen and into a starting pitching role. That difference, ironically, is the bullpen — that is, the bullpen sessions he throws between starts. “The bullpen is the most important thing for me as an individual,” Pallante said on Sunday.
Pallante will make his 18th start of the season for the Cardinals on Monday. He’s been arguably the club’s most consistent starter in the second half of the season. This season as a starter, Pallante has gone 6-7 with a 3.
90 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, a .241 opponent’s batting average, 6.
9 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.78-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Pallante, who pitched out of the bullpen for part of 2022 and all of 2023, has shown enough this season to force the Cardinals to use a six-man rotation in the final weeks of the season.
When asked about Pallante this weekend, Cardinals manger Oliver Marmol stated declaratively that Pallante would not be going back to the bullpen this season and the club is "committed" to him starting the rest of the year. At times during this season and last season, the Cardinals have shifted young pitchers Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson back and forth from the bullpen and the starting rotation as well as up and down from the minors to the majors. Pallante’s getting the benefit of a stable role this season.
“We’ve done it with a couple guys now, and it’s always because of need over anything,” Marmol said. “Like Libby, Pallante and others where they bounce back and forth. It easier to show up and know that I’m pitching every fifth day or I’m in the ’pen and wrap my head around being available every day.
Doing both, spot starting, it’s difficult. Especially for a young guy. Yes, that certainty of knowing what my role is is important.
We just haven’t had the luxury of doing that based on depth.” When the Cardinals added starting pitching options through trades or with veterans coming off the injured list, Pallante said publicly he’d do whatever he was asked to do. With the end of the season approaching and Pallante’s spot in the rotation set for the final weeks, he was candid about how crucial the consistent schedule of being in the rotation has been.
“I really struggled in the bullpen trying to figure something out if something was struggling because you have to be available every day,” Pallante said. “So I really feel like that brings out the best in me, having that set schedule.” His daily routine hasn’t changed “physically” very much since the last time he started regularly in 2022.
He’s kept a similar routine as far as which days he works out, the days he goes “light” on physical activity and he’s pretty similar in how he approaches conditioning his body. The biggest difference to his routine has been how he approaches the “skill training.” That’s why the bullpen sessions are so vital.
In the past, he always followed the same pattern in his between starts bullpen sessions. “Now, if I pick out one or two things from my last game that I want to work on, then that’s what I throw 25 times,” Pallante said. “So for example, this week.
Last week, I wasn’t commanding my four-seam fastball very well. I was spraying it all over the place. I threw six of 25 in the zone to lefties.
This last bullpen, I threw 15 four-seams just for the mentality of: I’m attacking the zone against a lefty. That’s what I’m going to work on. I’m going to work on being through the middle and letting the ball move the way it moves.
” Pallante was adamant that being in the rotation and having time to work with the coaches as well as receiving input from the veteran starting pitchers has helped bring the best out of him. Making those adjustments between starts was the element he sorely missed when he operated out of the bullpen as a relief pitcher. “For me, it was too hard in the bullpen,” Pallante said.
“There are some guys that are able to do it. I wasn’t able to.” Which begs the question: Did that lack of time between starts to work on a particular pitch make Pallante shy away from that pitch when he was a reliever, or would he have to throw a that despite having a lack of confidence in it? “It’s a little bit of both,” Pallante said.
“A big thing is if my slider feels like crap and I don’t feel like I can throw it for a strike and I’m not throwing it for a strike, how am I supposed to practice throwing it for a strike when I have to be ready to pitch the next day? You can’t.” Mikolas turns 30 for 5th time Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas logged his fifth season of at least 30 starts since 2018. He joined the Blue Jays’ Jose Berrios, New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole, Atlanta Braves’ Charlie Morton, Seattle Mariners’ Luis Castillo, Washington Nationals’ Patrick Corbin and Philadelphia Phillies Aaron Nola for the most seasons of 30 starts or more in that span.
“It’s a source of pride for me,” Mikolas said. “I had the one season earlier in my career where I missed most of it because of some arm stuff. My offseason strength and conditioning, I take a lot of pride in being a pretty in-shape individual.
“A lot of the credit goes to the guys in the training room (head athletic trainer Adam Olsen) and (assistant athletic trainer Chris Conroy) and his staff in there and the guys in the gym as well (strength and conditioning coach) Lance (Thomason) and (assistant strength and conditioning coach) Frank (Witkowski). It’s definitely a village effort, keeping players healthy, but it does make me proud of all the offseason work that I do.” Special guest speaks to Cardinals Prior to Saturday’s game, the Cardinals welcomed motivational speaker, author and actor Spencer Miller to their clubhouse in the Rogers Centre.
Miller, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, is a Toronto native. He’d originally been slated to speak to the team in St. Louis during their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in August, according to Marmol.
“Perspective is always important,” Marmol said. “At different points in the year, it hits a certain way.” Despite his physical disabilities, Miller has hosted a radio talk show, appearing on Canadian sports cable giant TSN.
He also appeared in the television series “Designated Survivor.”.
