Cardinals To Re-Sign Josh Fleming

Veteran lefty Josh Fleming is headed back to the Cardinals on a minor league deal, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fleming spent the final month of the season at Triple-A Memphis. The Blue Jays brought Fleming in on a minor league deal last offseason. He didn’t break camp with the club, but was up by the second week of the season. Fleming was knocked around for four earned runs over three innings in his lone appearance with Toronto. He was designated for assignment, passed through waivers, and re-upped with the Blue Jays on a minor league deal. Toronto cut Fleming in early July. He latched on with the Cubs, but that lasted just over a month. He finally found his way to the Cardinals organization for the final stretch of the season. After posting a low-3.00s ERA at Triple-A with the Blue Jays’ and Cubs’ affiliates, Fleming struggled with Memphis. He was tagged for 21 earned runs over 29 2/3 innings. Fleming gave up nine homers in six starts. St. Louis didn’t have many proven options in the rotation entering the season, but the unit performed relatively well. It was also a remarkably durable group. Michael McGreevy, Kyle Leahy, Andre Pallante, and Matthew Liberatore each made 29+ starts. Dustin May also made 31 starts, but 10 of them came with Milwaukee after he was moved at the trade deadline. Quinn Mathews stepped into the rotation for the last two months of the year. The Cardinals will likely run back the same group in 2027, with Mathews in May’s spot. Brycen Mautz, Cooper Hjerpe, and Richard Fitts represent the backend options. Fleming is the most experienced of the group, but he doesn’t offer much upside at this stage of his career. He’ll be a depth piece waiting in the minors, available to chew up some innings if needed. Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images View Comments (2)