The St. Louis Cardinals have announced some Memorial Day roster moves. The moves come following their 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. Pitcher Ryan Fernandez is being recalled, while pitcher Brycen Mautz is being optioned to Triple-A Memphis.
Cardinals Announce Roster Moves
#stlcards will recall Ryan Fernandez for the bullpen. He will be active tomorrow.
They are optioning Brycen Mautz to Memphis after his MLB debut and three innings today.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 25, 2026
Fernandez was the Cardinals’ 27th man for the second game of their doubleheader on Saturday. Fernandez pitched two scoreless innings in the team’s 7-6 loss. Mautz, meanwhile, made his big-league debut on Monday out of the bullpen. He pitched three innings, giving up four hits and two runs. He also picked up his first two strikeouts.
Mautz was scheduled to start on Sunday, but the game was postponed due to rain.
Fernandez and Mautz Did Their Jobs
Both pitchers did the job the Cardinals needed them to do. Following a doubleheader, with one game going into 11 innings, the team needed these “extra pitchers” to help eat some innings. Fernandez did that on Saturday with his two scoreless innings, as did Mautz on Monday. While Mautz was not as effective as Fernandez (or as effective a debut as Bryan Torres), he was the only pitcher manager Oli Marmol needed out of his bullpen in relief of Matthew Liberatore. Mautz essentially provided the relief he would have been providing on Sunday had the game been played.
Now that the pitching has been reset, with basically two days of no one pitching besides Mautz out of the bullpen, the Cardinals now make these roster moves as they plan to finish out their series with the Brewers.
Fernandez Impressing
Fernandez has only pitched 7.2 innings with the Cardinals this season, but he has been effective. He is posting a 1.17 ERA and has only given up one run. His prior experience in the majors was not nearly as effective, so it is nice seeing him settle into a groove, even if the sample size is small. It is not a surprise that the Cardinals are choosing to keep him on the roster as part of these roster moves.
If Fernandez can continue to pitch as he has been, he will be another weapon for the Cardinals out of their bullpen. The team has enjoyed recent success from pitchers like Matt Svanson and Gordon Graceffo. If these trends can continue, the Cardinals will have a dangerous bullpen.
Next Game
These roster moves will take effect for their game on Tuesday, the second of their series against the Brewers.
Main Photo: Aaron Doster- Imagn Images
