Cardinals manager Oli Marmol announced yesterday that left-hander will be taking the ball for tomorrows game against the Red Sox, adding to reporters (including ) that Liberatore will remain in the rotation for now as the team continues to deal with the absence of left-hander , who is on the injured list due to a strained lower back. The news comes on the heels of a difficult start for Liberatore earlier this week where he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings of work against the Angels while striking out just one. The lefty threw a season-high 60 pitches during the outing and appears likely to be similarly limited against Boston tomorrow, given the fact that he was moved from short relief in the bullpen to a starting role with minimal time to stretch out. Before moving to the rotation, Liberatore had been among the clubs more valuable relief arms this season, pitching to a 2.76 ERA despite a lackluster 16.4% strikeout rate in 16 1/3 innings of work. The combination of Liberatores limited pitch count, struggles in the rotation, and succe s out of the bullpen this year make the decision to stick with him as the fifth member of the rotation a somewhat puzzling one. The club has plenty of potential alternatives to take the ball on the 40-man roster at Triple-A, as well: Left-hander filled in for in the rotation to open the season, albeit with shaky results of his own, while righty has plenty of experience swinging between the rotation and the bullpen and has impre sed in the minors so far this season. Also off to an impre sive start at Triple-A is right-handed prospect , who the club acquired in the trade last summer and sports a 2.64 ERA and 4.05 FIP through eight starts. Should Liberatores struggles in the rotation continue, its po sible that any of those options could replace him as a member of the starting five in St. Louis. While Liberatores move to the rotation has taken a solid John D'acquisto Jersey relief option out of the equation for the Cardinals, it appears likely that reinforcements are on the way as veteran right-handers and both appear to be making progre s toward returns from the injured list. Middleton appears to be further along between the two veterans as that hes scheduled to make three more rehab appearances in the coming days, including back-to-back outings on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the club makes a decision on whether or not hes ready to return to the big league bullpen. That timeline could see Middleton make his Cardinals debut by the end of the week after he mi sed the start of the season due to a forearm strain. The right-hander pitched to a 3.38 ERA and 4.20 FIP in 50 2/3 innings of work between the White Sox and the Yankees last year, including a dominant 14 1/3 inning stretch run in New York that saw him allow just three runs while striking out 30.4% of batters faced. Upon his return, Middleton figures to be in the mix for late inning opportunities alongside the likes of , , and Andrew Kittredge. Gallegos, on the other hand, was shelved earlier this month due to a shoulder impingement but appears to be on track to return in fairly short order. this afternoon that Gallegos is feeling better and threw a bullpen yesterday but, according to Marmol, is still building up his arm strength ahead of a return to big league action. It appears hell continue to do that while on a rehab a signment to the minor leagues, as Denton indicates that Gallegos is expected to head out for one in the coming days. After many years as one of St. Louiss most reliable set-up men, Gallegos suffered a down season in 2023 as he struggled to a roughly league average 4.42 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 55 innings of work. While even a repeat of that disappointing performance would still make him an adequate middle relief arm, Gallegoss 2024 season got off to an awful start as he was blown up for 12 runs in just nine innings of work acro s 14 appearances before he was placed on the IL. While he was striking out a respectable 27.1% of batters faced, Gallegoss walk rate ballooned to 14.6% and he allowed an whopping five home runs in those nine innings of work. Now that the righty appears to be getting healthier, hell look to get his season back on track as he rehabs in hopes of contributing more positively to the Cardinals bullpen upon his return. Johnnie Lemaster Jersey