Leahy's strong start affirms Cardinals' patience with young rotation

ST. LOUIS -- With half the Cardinals’ bullpen almost assuredly unavailable Tuesday following back-to-back appearances over the past two days, starter Kyle Leahy took to the Busch Stadium mound and delivered the most effective start of his fledgling career.

Leahy logged a scoreless outing while recording an out in the seventh inning of a big league start for the first time.

“I’m not really sure when the last time I’ve done that was,” Leahy said.

The Cardinals’ offense squandered Leahy’s effort, waiting for the D-backs to score four ninth-inning runs before finally providing a few of their own, falling narrowly short in a 4-3 loss.

The previous night at the postgame podium, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol made a statement about Andre Pallante that wasn’t really about Pallante.

“I think this is a reminder for all of us of the importance of giving people a chance,” Marmol said Monday. “You think, a year ago, two years ago, we sat in this room and there were plenty of nights where it was, ‘Is this his last start?’”

Marmol pointed to Pallante’s success this season as a shining example of trusting the process -- something the Cardinals were prepared to do with Leahy, too, even before Tuesday’s productive outcome for the first-year starter.

The manager’s message Tuesday afternoon affirmed an offseason edict from president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.

The club’s approach to building St. Louis baseball back -- “We can't take shortcuts, and we won't” -- remains.

It applies not only to Leahy, who frankly shouldn’t need much of a lobby given his solid 4.24 ERA, but also to Matthew Liberatore.

“I think that’s the clarity that Chaim has provided our fan base this year,” Marmol said. “Being clear as to what this is going to look like and not taking shortcuts, and allowing development to happen. If you don’t make that statement, then, yeah. Then I would understand the impatience.

“But when the president makes it very clear as to what’s important, and what we’re trying to find out, then I think we need to see that through.”

Of course, what has changed the conversation from the outside has been the success of the team. Should contending results on the field shift how the Cardinals approach things from a developmental slant?

Marmol rejects that concept.

“There’s more educating our audience as to how we’re looking at it,” Marmol said, insisting that the club's winning record is a feature, not a bug in this process. “I’d rather explain it from the position we’re currently standing.”

But the current standings don’t change how they’re looking at it.

“Chaim’s pretty thoughtful when he speaks,” Marmol said. “When he says, no shortcuts, it’s … if this heads in this direction, the easiest thing to do is take shortcuts. So, when he mentioned that before we threw the first pitch of the season, he meant it.”

Parsing out the distinction, if there’s one to be drawn, between Leahy and Liberatore remains an interesting endeavor. Frustration with Liberatore reached a new high after his season-low performance when he recorded just five outs last Thursday in Kansas City.

But Marmol’s adherence to the club’s internal data provides insight into the club’s unflinching approach to the development of both pitchers.

“What if I told you that every internal metric and model that we have on our dashboard that’s predictive for future success, from pitch one of the season to where we’re at today, both of them are pointing in a much better direction than where they started?” Marmol asked, rhetorically. “And it’s not close.”

Essentially, the organization isn’t living and dying with every pitch for the players under evaluation in a campaign that was always designed around growth.

“We have tools now that give you a clear indication as to if something is actually making progress, regardless of what our eyes tell us or what the line looks like,” Marmol said. “And there’s times where, man, it’s screaming at you to be patient. And there’s times where it’s screaming at you that this ain’t gonna work.”

So, Marmol left room for an interpretation that could lead to an eventual pivot.

For Leahy, attention to his recent starts reveals progress. For Liberatore, Wednesday provides the next opportunity to mesh the results with the steadfast confidence of the Cardinals’ internal view of his progress.

What seems clear is that Liberatore, until the club’s data starts screaming in another direction, will be given the space to do it.

“It’s easy to sit here and every outing, try to [ask], well, what’s next for them?” Marmol said. “I’ll tell you what’s next: their next start. That’s what’s next.”