As Cardinals win ninth straight game, Kyle Leahy emerges as a key weapon in the bullpen

New York Times

13-05-2025

PHILADELPHIA — As Kyle Leahy headed into the offseason last winter after his first taste of the big leagues, he took on a personal challenge.
When he reported to camp this year, he wanted to be a reliever who was as multifaceted as possible.
'When I first came up to the big leagues, I saw how much matchups are important,' Leahy said. 'And I told myself that offseason that I want to be a guy that can get both sides out. I don't want to pigeonhole myself to being a righty specialist and only being able to come in a certain situation or a certain game. I try to be as versatile as I can, develop all the pitches and weapons to get lefties out as well as the righties.'
Advertisement
Fast forward to Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, and it sure looks like Leahy has figured that out.
Leahy posted 2 1/3 innings of clutch relief, scattering two hits and striking out two as the St. Louis Cardinals clawed their way to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, extending their winning streak to an MLB-best nine games. But it wasn't so much the line score that was impressive. It was how and who Leahy navigated through to keep the game in reach.
The @Cardinals win their 9th straight thanks to homers from Iván Herrera and Masyn Winn. pic.twitter.com/5otc0U8uhv
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2025
Starter Matthew Liberatore was effective through the first five innings and limited the Phillies to just one run. But he ran into trouble in the sixth, when Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos tagged him for a pair of singles to open up the bottom half of the frame. He induced a forceout from J.T. Realmuto, but Schwarber scored, tying the score at 2. After Alec Bohm singled to put runners on first and second with one out and Liberatore sitting at 80 pitches, manager Oli Marmol had a difficult decision to make. He could let his starter try to escape the jam. Or, he could turn to one of his most reliable relief weapons: Leahy.
Philadelphia had five consecutive right-handers due up, and Marmol knew that swapping in Leahy would mean Phillies manager Rob Thomson would deploy his three lefties on the bench: Bryson Stott, Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh. But the thought process was that Leahy would be able to combat that lane. Coming into play Monday, left-handed batters were hitting just .077/.250/.192 against Leahy (though right-handers weren't doing much better, at .109/.146/.196).
But there was a second lane Leahy would need to conquer as well: Schwarber and Bryce Harper once the Phillies lineup turned over. It was a big ask of Leahy. But again, he was up for the challenge.
Advertisement
'This is what I wake up for,' Leahy said. 'Doesn't matter what situation I come in; the goal is to always put up a zero.'
So he did.
Marmol opted for Leahy, and Thomson turned his lefty bench bats loose. Leahy needed 11 pitches to retire Stott and Kepler — and kept the score tied.
All signs pointed toward Leahy coming back out for the seventh. When he did, he was aided by an insurance run. Masyn Winn tagged Matt Strahm for a go-ahead solo shot in the top of the seventh, bringing the Cardinals to a 3-2 lead. Leahy responded by striking out Marsh on a curveball in the dirt, inducing a fly ball to center from Trea Turner, and punching out Harper with a perfectly placed slider to end the frame.
At just 22 pitches, Marmol turned to Leahy once more. He'd be up for a third inning, which is somewhat of an unorthodox request, but Marmol thought Leahy was the best matchup for Schwarber. So out Leahy came, and he promptly induced a groundout to second base. He maneuvered one more groundout from Castellenos before two righties reached base against him. That's when Marmol turned to lefty JoJo Romero for the final out.
Check out this disgusting two-pitch mix by Kyle Leahy to strike out Bryce Harper
CH: 91.1 MPH, 1543 RPM, -1.4" IVB, 12.8" HBSL: 89.7 MPH, 2798 RPM, 5.8" IVB, -11.4" HB pic.twitter.com/PmQ3govYZw
— Kareem (@KareemSSN) May 13, 2025
'He's been good all year,' Marmol said of Leahy. 'But to be able to do what he did today and go through both Harper and Schwarber and then get that righty lane and hand it over to JoJo? That was the game.
'(The coaching staff) talked about it before the game. Both (Harper and Schwarber) have been better left-on-left, so we should just take our best arm against them. It helped that Leahy was pretty efficient, and it was great that there was a lefty lane created (before).'
Advertisement
Liberatore, who posted another strong outing (two earned runs, seven hits, one walk and four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings) amid his own impressive start to the season, commended Leahy for his performance.
'It was the right move, bringing in Leahy,' Liberatore said. 'He's been absolutely nails for us, and he was again tonight.
'He'll tell you every day that he wants the ball, and he really, truly does. I really think that he could take the ball just about every day. He comes in attacking guys, throwing — what? — five to six pitches out of the bullpen, has a feel for all of them. It's special to watch what he's doing right now.'
As the Cardinals continue to surge, they're encouraged by their bullpen continuing to take form. Leahy has been at the forefront of that development. Though his four-seam fastball and slider are his two most-used pitches, he has enough trust in his six-pitch arsenal to mix in his sweeper, changeup, curveball and sinker when needed. That has kept opposing hitters well off-balance and has led to his dominating both sides of the plate. In 19 games (24 2/3 innings) this season, Leahy has a 1.09 ERA and a o.650 WHIP.
'I believe in my teammates behind me with their defense, I believe in Pedro (Pagés) behind the plate, I believe in the information and everything the coaches are telling me, and I believe in myself,' Leahy said. 'The situation doesn't really change; the mindset doesn't really change. I just try to be the same guy every day.'
The Cardinals, who now sit at a season-best four games over .500, are clicking on all sides of the ball. Their win Monday was arguably their most commanding yet. But what has really encouraged the organization during this exciting stretch is that a different player is fueling each win.
Monday night was Leahy's turn, and similar to how he has navigated every other challenge so far, he aced it.