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Basically, it boils down to this one fact. The Nashville Triple-A lineup doesn’t have a Kyle Tucker.

OK. While that’s undeniably true, some explaining is necessary. So here goes. …

Watching Cardinals rookie starting pitcher Michael McGreevy’s last outing against the Chicago Cubs and listening to both McGreevy and manager Oli Marmol’s thoughts after the game, it spawned both optimism and frustration.

First, the encouraging and optimistic part. McGreevy’s learning curve has only accelerated since his insertion into the rotation for the major league club. He’s working through game situations and learning from experiences that the minors simply couldn’t offer him.

So what’s frustrating about that? Well, the aggravation comes when you ask yourself the inevitable questions: What if McGreevy had been getting this chance in the majors earlier? Wouldn’t he be that much further along? He’s made just seven starts (eight appearances) in the majors this season.

Now, every prospect is different. Every player needs to spend time in the minors, adjusting to a wide range of changes on the field and off the field as part of the jump to the professional game.

But McGreevy isn’t a fresh-out-of-college prospect being rushed to the bigs.

McGreevy, 25, entered this season with 89 career starts in the minors plus another four appearances (three starts) in the majors. The former first-round draft pick (2021) logged nearly 500 innings (478) as a professional pitcher before he stepped on a pitching rubber in 2025.

All of those innings were necessary, critical, essential and served multiple purposes. But at this stage of his career, the innings with the most impact for McGreevy are innings like that shaky five-run third inning against the Cubs at Busch Stadium on June 24.

He white-knuckled his way through that inning like a ride without a seat belt on an aging wooden roller coaster about a decade past its latest upkeep and with a highly questionable safety inspection record.

But McGreevy survived that ride — the Cardinals won the game — and it gave him and the coaching staff plenty to pick apart and analyze.

Like, for example, the two-run single by Tucker on a center-cut sinking fastball. Those were the first two runs scored in that five-run inning.

“The sinker is a super high strike percentage pitch for me, and against Tucker, against (Ian) Happ, last time I was at home I was just going to it — 2-1, lets get just get back in the count and throw a sinker,� McGreevy said.

“Instead of being like, ‘Hey, I’m going to make a competitive pitch here. It’s 2-1. I don’t need to give in.’�

The great thing about McGreevy now being in the rotation and making a start every fifth or sixth day is that it offers more than just lessons. It allows him to put those lessons into action.

On Friday, that meant offering another start for McGreevy against the Cubs at Busch Stadium.

That also meant matching up with the likes of Tucker, who ranks among the top 10 in the majors in slugging percentage, OPS and wins above replacement (WAR) since the start of the 2021 season.

McGreevy responded with six scoreless innings on Friday. He allowed six hits, all singles, and the Cubs went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against McGreevy. Tucker’s lone hit came with two outs and the bases empty in the first inning.

“I thought the last outing we faced them to now, there were some pitches I gave in like ‘Oh, let’s just throw a strike,’� McGreevy said. “‘Let’s get something over there. Maybe they’ll hit weak contact.’

“Those are gifts to good hitters. So I thought the mentality was just better going forward. There’s room to miss. There’s room to be aggressive here and not give in to guys like Tucker.�

It’s not just about Tucker, specifically, as much as it is about McGreevy figuring out how to get outs and building confidence against that type of hitter — a bona fide left-handed hitting major-league hitter. This season, between his starts in the majors and minors, lefties have batted .291 against McGreevy.

He’s beginning to make his changeup a factor against leftie-heavy lineups. Against the Cubs, he used it the second-most of any of the six different pitches in his arsenal. He paired the changeup with his four-seam fastball, and that combination helped yield a whiff rate of 36% on his changeup in that game.

McGreevy also used his changeup with success in his previous start against the San Diego Padres. One changeup, a pitch he threw to get a strikeout against left-handed hitting all-star slugger Ryan O’Hearn, stood out in his mind almost a week later.

“That was the best one I’ve ever thrown in my life,� McGreevy said. “Continuing to build off of that is going to be huge. Having that be a weapon in my back pocket, like the slider is to righties, is going to be huge for me moving forward.�

That is the importance of McGreevy getting these starts. Pitches like that. Moments like that. Making corrections from one start to the next.

“That’s what you’re looking for, how big-league guys are responding to him,� Marmol said. “And then, once he sees them a second time through, if there’s some changes there.

“We’re excited with this progress, and we’ve got to keep working.�

If you’re looking to be optimistic, then be encouraged that McGreevy is now getting these chances and is making the adjustments.

If you’re wanting to point fingers and assign blame, well, the organization’s lack of pitching depth caused the Cardinals to keep McGreevy in the minors as a fail-safe. Perhaps he could’ve been doing this earlier.

So there’s truly something for everyone when you examine McGreevy’s year.