Cardinals Top Bullpen Addition Reached Major Milestone Showing Return Is Near

The St. Louis Cardinals certainly were busy this past offseason.

St. Louis entered the offseason with a clear goal of improving the pitching throughout the organization. The Cardinals had a dreadful 2023 campaign and the biggest reason why is because the rotation and bullpen both struggled.

The Cardinals used free agency as a tool to improve both and seem to have done a pretty good job so far. St. Louis' rotation is in a significantly better place and the bullpen is better, but has dealt with injuries.

One player who has dealt with a tough injury is top free-agent addition Keynan Middleton. He has been dealing with a right flexor tendon strain since Spring Training and hasn't appeared in a game yet this season.

This might not be the case for much longer as he reportedly took a major step in his recovery on Friday and threw off a mound for the first time in nearly a month, according to MLB.com's John Denton.

"Cardinals reliever Keynan Middleton (right flexor tendon strain) will throw off a mound today for the first time since he was shut down on March 3," Denton said. "He will need a few of those sessions before beginning a Minor League rehab assignment later this month."

Middleton throwing off of a mound certainly is a great sign for the Cardinals. If he can get another session under his belt it wouldn't be too surprising to see him start a rehab assignment soon. After a rehab assignment, he will be back up with the big league club.

He was great last season with a 3.38 ERA and 64-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio with the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. It sounds like reinforcements are on the way for the Cardinals.