Cardinals pitching prospect Tekoah Roby undergoes Tommy John, will likely miss 2026 season
Roby, 23, was placed on the injured list on July 14 and underewent the procedure on Friday. He entered the season ranked as the Cardinals' seventh-best prospect on the year list assembled by The Athletic's Keith Law.
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Roby was promoted to Triple-A Memphis in June after posting a 2.49 ERA over 10 starts in Double A. He collected 87 strikeouts over 78 1/3 innings overall and was building a strong case for consideration in next year's major-league rotation.
But injury befell the right-hander once more. Roby's availability has been limited since the Cardinals acquired him, along with infielder Thomas Saggese, in a 2023 trade that sent Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers. He logged 58 1/3 innings in 2023, plus 13 2/3 in the Arizona Fall League, and 38 1/3 in 2024 due to various stints on the IL.
RHP Tekoah Roby (AAA) tossed 5.2 scoreless innings in the @memphisredbirds 8-1 win vs. Charlotte last night, striking out 6 batters while only allowing one walk.
Over his last 4 starts, Roby is 3-1 with a 0.86 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. pic.twitter.com/e9KCA7O9vC
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) July 11, 2025
The Cardinals overhauled their player development this offseason, and Roby was of the first big beneficiaries. He was in the midst of his best season thanks to a retooled pitch mix. Roby was hurt and/or ineffective all of last year due to elbow trouble — a harbinger of what just happened — but the Cardinals turned him around by giving him a two-seamer, moving him from a straight change to a kick-change, and helping him tweak his slider to make it harder and give it some more horizontal movement. The slider became a real weapon for him to pair with the plus curveball, and the two-seamer helped reduce his hard-contact rates, since the four-seamer does tend to get hit hard despite plus velocity.
He was so close to major-league ready with mid-rotation upside that Law considered him for his midseason top 60 ranking until learning he might be about to go under the knife.
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Roby becomes the Cardinals' third pitching prospect to undergo Tommy John surgery this year. Cooper Hjerpe, the organization's first-round draftee in 2022, had it in April and 13th-ranked Sem Robberse in May.
Starting pitching depth remains a top concern for the Cardinals, who have struggled to develop arms in their upper minor-league levels. Losing Roby is another significant blow for an organization already lacking viable rotation options.
(Photo of Roby in spring training: Rich Storry / Getty Images)
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