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The setting was one he experienced last year and one that was just out of his reach at the end of spring training after his bid to break camp on his first opening day roster came up short.

Coming off a strong introduction to the majors in 2024, McGreevy posted a 1.08 ERA in 16 2/3 innings during the Grapefruit League this past spring. He kept opposing hitters to a .167 batting average, struck out 12 batters, and didn’t issue a single walk.

The right-hander missed the cut as the Cardinals rolled into the regular season with plans to begin the year with a five-man rotation before expanding the staff to six starters when Steven Matz joined it on April 16. The plans positioned McGreevy to be the club’s immediate option for starting pitching depth in Class AAA Memphis.

“This is a kid — he’s young, but he is as pro as they get,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of McGreevy, who was recalled to the majors Saturday before the Cardinals had their matchup against the Mets postponed due to rain. “It’s very easy to have a conversation with him. He understands the baseball side. He understands the bigger picture side of this as well. I don’t even want to say the business side, but just the bigger picture of the 40-man (roster). Those conversations have been very easy with him.

“Don’t get me wrong, he wants to be in the big leagues, but he understands that there’s a plan in place.�

At around 11 p.m. Friday, following Memphis’s afternoon game, McGreevy had just walked out of a screening of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’ when he got a call from Memphis manager Ben Johnson to let him know he wasn’t going to make his scheduled start Saturday.

McGreevy learned he would be heading to the majors instead in a move to give the Cardinals a length reliever while Matz, who has been used as a reliever and starter, was unavailable after he started Wednesday in Cincinnati. The late call led McGreevy to head to AutoZone Park to pack his bags ahead of a 6 a.m. drive Saturday morning.

On a starter’s track through his minor-league career and still in that role through 2025, McGreevy’s availability to pitch in relief over the weekend is not set to alter his long-term plans.

“No, not at all. This is strictly for protection,� Marmol said Saturday.

While he awaited a call to the majors, McGreevy went 3-1 with a 4.08 ERA in 28 2/3 innings for Memphis. Across six starts, he struck out 25 batters and walked seven. He’s limited opposing hitters to a 29.8% hard hit rate — 1.5% decrease from his time in Class AAA a year ago — and generated a whiff rate of 40.3% with his sweeping slider, per Statcast.

McGreevy’s arsenal has kept hitters to a 51.8% ground ball rate, per FanGraphs, following a spring performance that earned him praise from Marmol and forced the Cardinals to make a “hard decision� when they finalized their roster.

“It’s definitely nice when the manager says that, and it’s never awesome when you get sent back down to Triple-A after tasting a little bit of heaven,� McGreevy said. “But the best thing I can do is just try to stay consistent. Just work on the process every day. I had great mentors down there in (Johnson) and (pitching coach) Darwin Marrero, who have done it before — (that) felt like they should have made it out of camp but didn’t.

“ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were able to keep me focused and stay on the process.â€�

Fedde, Pallante to start doubleheader

With their game rained out on Saturday, the Cardinals plan to have Erick Fedde start Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader vs. the Mets at Busch Stadium. Andre Pallante is slated to start Game 2. That would keep the Cardinals on their scheduled pitching plan as Fedde was listed as Saturday’s probable starter and Pallante was scheduled to start the series finale vs. New York on Sunday.

Tickets from Saturday’s postponed game will be valid for Game 2 on Sunday, which is slated for a 5:15 p.m. start. Game 1 is scheduled for a 12:15 p.m. start.

Extra bases

Catcher Ivan Herrera continued his rehab assignment with a start at designated hitter Saturday in Class AAA.

Herrera caught five innings Friday afternoon as a part of his ramp-up and was said to have responded well to the return to catching, per Marmol.

Roddery Munoz was optioned to Class AAA to clear a spot on the Cardinals’ active roster for McGreevy. Munoz completed two innings and tossed 39 pitches in relief on Friday.

Victor Scott II’s successful steal of third base in Friday’s opener against the Mets improved the speedster to 11 for 11 on steal attempts to begin the season. In the process, Scott joined Lou Brock (11 in 1969) and Vince Coleman (14 in 1989) as the third Cardinal to steal 10 or more bases through the club’s first 33 games without getting caught.