Even though the 2026 regular season is done, business from the year is still being dealt with. The Cardinals have added a lot of high swing-and-miss pitchers over the past two seasons. That theme continued on October 1, as former Georgia Bulldog Brian Curley was acquired from Arizona to complete an August trade.

Curley goes to St. Louis

The Cardinals announced that the club acquired pitcher Brian Curley from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Curley was shipped over to St. Louis to complete the Lars Nootbaar trade from August. Daniel Eagen and Sandro Santana were sent to the Cardinals in August as part of that deal.

A 5’10” right-hander, Curley was a third-round pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2025 out of Georgia. The 23-year-old struck out 130 batters over 116 innings between High-A and Double-A this season. However, he was hit around a bit harder in Amarillo, as he posted a 6.41 ERA and conceded 13 home runs over 46 frames with the Sod Poodles.

Low-to-mid-90s fastball, along with a slider and changeup for Curley. He was very prone to giving up the home run ball, with 22 overall this season. But he also induced a lot of swing-and-miss among his peers. In High-A, his 30.9% Whiff% was 113th out of 384 pitchers who induced at least 300 swings in 2026.

Other notes

Yankees pitcher Alexander Cornielle was outrighted to the FCL. Cornielle was designated for assignment earlier in the week to add Giancarlo Stanton back on the 40-man roster.

The Reds sent Ivan Johnson outright to Triple-A Louisville.

Royals pitcher Luke Little was outrighted to Triple-A Omaha.

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