MILWAUKEE — One of the things that the Cardinals have been chasing out of the bullpen and really throughout their pitching staff this season is someone who does the same to hitters — gets them chasing.

The reliever who has done it as well as any one in Class AAA is on his way to see how his stuff plays in the majors.

Andre Granillo, a strapping 25-year-old right-hander, was promoted to the Cardinals’ active roster ahead of the four-game division series that opens in Milwaukee on Thursday night. Granillo has struck out 46 batters in 29 2/3 innings for the Cardinals’ Class AAA affiliate in Memphis. His 13.96 strikeout-per-nine rate leads the Pacific Coast League for all pitchers who have faced at least 90 batters.

He’s faced 116 and struck out 39.6% of them.

The Cardinals made a series of roster moves on Thursday afternoon before facing the defending National League Central champions.

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They demoted right-hander Chris Roycroft to Triple-A Memphis and recalled outfielder Michael Siani. To make room on the 40-player roster, the Cardinals designated outfielder Ryan Vilade for assignment. Siani takes Vilade’s spot on the active roster, and Granillo takes the opening on the 40-player roster.

For Granillo, his first pitch in the majors will be his MLB debut.

Asked about the 6-foot-5 right-hander this past week, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said the reports from Memphis about his success were “great.” He added an enthusiastic adjective to further describe them. When asked if there was anything “under the hood” in Granillo’s metrics profile that suggested his pitches would not adjust well to the majors, Marmol shook his head and said they looked just as sharp.

Left unsaid by the manager was how Granillo not being on the 40-player roster was the reason he wasn’t promoted earlier or part of the ongoing churn of relievers through the year.

The move Thursday introduces him to the relay race of relievers.

The Cardinals drafted the California native out of UC-Riverside in the 14th round of the 2021 draft. He arrived in major-league spring training in 2024 as something of a sleeper pick to emerge at some point as a factor in the Cardinals’ bullpen machinations. Granillo had a 1.47 ERA in Class AA Springfield a year ago, and that earned a promotion to Memphis, where he spent the rest of the season. The call to the majors never came.

He finished the year with 80 strikeouts in 65 innings and an 8-2 record with a 3.88 ERA in 48 appearances.

This season, at the same level, he’s been even better.

Granillo has allowed fewer hits (17) than he has appearances (18). His 0.84 walks-and-hits-per-inning (WHIP) is among the best at his level, and he’s held opponents to a .159 batting average.

Put another way: He’s striking out more than twice as many batters as he’s allowing hits.

Granillo will be available out of the bullpen Thursday night.

A member of the Cardinals’ opening day roster, Siani has hit .263/.348/.459 for a .799 OPS in 33 games since a demotion to Class AAA Memphis. He hit five homers with 17 RBIs and 22 runs scored for the Redbirds.

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Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol speaks with the media on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, after a third straight loss to Toronto to end a homestand at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)


Ethan Erickson | Post-Dispatch


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