St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Connor Thomas has been outrighted off the club's 40-man roster after going unclaimed on waivers following his designation for assignment last week. Thomas has yet to make his big-league debut and has largely scuffled in the upper minors over the last two seasons. After posting a healthy 3.10 ERA in 22 appearances (14 starts) at Triple-A in the 2021 season, the 25-year-old has posted a 5.47 ERA and 5.53 ERA over the last two seasons with 42 of his 49 appearances coming as a starter. He also saw his strikeout rate dip to just 15.7% in 2023 but he did put forth solid walk and ground-ball rates. He will look to get back on traffic with Triple-A Memphis in hopes of making his MLB debut in 2024.
The St. Louis Cardinals added left-hander Connor Thomas to their 40-man major-league roster on Tuesday to protect him from this week's Rule 5 draft. Thomas checks in as the team's No. 24 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, but he doesn't have a ton of upside at the next level. The 24-year-old southpaw struck out only 110 hitters in 135 innings over 28 outings (25 starts) for Triple-A Memphis this year while also posting a 5.47 ERA and 1.57 WHIP. Thomas projects as more of a back-end starter in St. Louis or as a long-relief swing man once he eventually makes it to the majors, which could come in 2023.
