Erick Fedde falters again in ‘ugly' loss to Cubs as Cardinals debate rotation changes

New York Times

11 hours ago

CHICAGO — Oli Marmol did not hesitate after Erick Fedde issued back-to-back walks in the top of the second inning.
Ball four to Ian Happ was a sweeper outside to load the bases, and the St. Louis Cardinals manager had seen enough. He knew before the game his starting pitcher would have a short leash, and with a rested bullpen and a scheduled off day on Monday, Marmol did not hesitate to give Fedde the hook.
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It wouldn't matter. The Chicago Cubs scored twice off reliever John King in the second inning, exploded for five more in the third and routed the Cardinals 11-0 in front of a national audience. St. Louis (48-43) posted its sixth shutout defeat in its last 11 games and fell to 6 1/2 games back in the division, though it is just one game out of the wild-card picture.
Still, it's hard to discuss playoff pictures after a performance like that.
The Cubs score 5 runs in the third inning 🤯
📺 Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN pic.twitter.com/0CGBezbn5g
— ESPN (@espn) July 7, 2025
Fedde faced 10 total batters and failed to finish the second inning Sunday night, allowing three earned runs on two hits. He walked as many batters (four) as outs recorded and did not strike out a batter for the second straight start. He's given up 16 earned runs over 10 innings in his last three outings. The Cardinals have lost those games by a collective score of 26-0.
'Obviously, it's pretty ugly,' Fedde said.
The Cardinals have worked feverishly to identify the reasons behind Fedde's dramatic decline. His expected numbers in April and May suggested a drop-off could be coming, but not to this degree.
'My sinker is not running, which is really killing me,' Fedde said. 'My cutter is moving, in my opinion, a little too much. I need to clean up the mechanics to hopefully get back to those shapes that I like.
'I'm throwing a lot of balls. When I am throwing strikes, they're being hit well. It's a difficult situation to navigate. Maybe in a sense, I'm thinking too much about outside things, about my mechanics, about tipping, about holding runners. I'm just not focusing on making a quality pitch right then and there. That's something that's inexcusable and I have to be better about.'
RBI?
on the board 😏 pic.twitter.com/KrELGfB6MX
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 6, 2025
Fedde's next start is scheduled for Saturday against the Atlanta Braves at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals have not yet made a decision as to whether he will take it.
'We'll use (Monday) to take a step back and figure out what that looks like,' Marmol said. '(Fedde) has to find a solution to what's going on and make an adjustment in order to get through an outing successfully. Continuing to go down this road doesn't seem like it's beneficial at the moment.'
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The obvious solution? Bring up Michael McGreevy, who is eligible to be recalled from Triple A on July 10, and has shown in his limited sample sizes that he's more than capable of handling big-league pitching. When asked Friday afternoon about McGreevy, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak agreed the right-hander should be with the big-league club and acknowledged the situation was not ideal.
'When he's pitched in the big leagues, every time he's got the ball he's pitched really well,' Mozeliak said. 'Thankfully he's a very patient, good guy. He's tolerating this.'
But the Cardinals shouldn't tolerate games like Sunday any longer. Their initial decision to start McGreevy in Memphis made sense from an organization-wide lens. The system's pitching depth was scarce outside of McGreevy, if not non-existent, and the club was right to protect it — especially early in the season where pitching injuries are most prevalent.
But the season has surpassed its official halfway mark. Six games remain before the All-Star break. After three months of surprisingly good baseball, the Cardinals are in danger of spiraling out right as contending teams should be making a push. Mozeliak has already stated that how his team plays in July will dictate his course at the trade deadline. It's not an exaggeration to say the Cardinals' season hinges on their performance over the next three weeks. Depth remains a concern, and it's an organization's responsibility to ensure it has enough protection.
It's also an organization's responsibility to ensure the team is set up to win. The rotation is not currently structured to do that. Fedde is not the only starter whose status should be in question. Miles Mikolas, who gave up a franchise-record six home runs in Friday's 11-3 loss, owns a 5.26 ERA. He allowed 19 earned runs and 34 hits over 26 innings in June. His next start is scheduled for July 10 at home against the Washington Nationals, so McGreevy could be a candidate for that as well. But if the Cardinals are going to skip one pitcher's start, it seems most likely to be Fedde based on current performance.
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It's also no guarantee St. Louis will take that course, though all signs suggest it should. It's a unanimous decision, from the front office to the coaches to the player development staff, that McGreevy has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues and should be with the big-league club. And yet, he isn't.
'(McGreevy) is a major-league pitcher, there's just not a spot open,' Mozeliak said.
If only someone had the ability to change that.