Hunter Dobbins Shows Encouraging Signs in Live Batting Practice Session
· Yahoo Sports
The St. Louis Cardinals brought many new players within their organization over the course of the offseason.
One of those new additions still has his major league aspirations up in the air more than a week through Grapefruit League competition.
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Right-handed starting pitcher Hunter Dobbins was acquired by the Cardinals, in addition to right-handed pitchers Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita, in a trade with the Boston Red Sox on Dec. 22, 2025. St. Louis sent first baseman/catcher Willson Contreras to Boston in return.
Despite netting one of the Cardinals' most respected veterans, there was a question about Dobbins' major league aspirations for 2026.
At the time of his acquisition, Dobbins' timeline for return was still uncertain. He suffered a torn right ACL while attempting to cover first base in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 11, 2025.
According to a recent report, Dobbins could be nearing a return, which would muddy up the back-end of St. Louis' rotation.
According to an article from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Dispatch, Dobbins threw in a live bullpen session Saturday. The live BP session was meant to simulate three innings of work.
Among the batters Dobbins faced were two of the team's expected major league starters, Nolan Gorman (third baseman) and Ivan Herrera (catcher/designated hitter).
According to Goold's report, Dobbins started off slow in the "first inning" and ramped up after that.
Dobbins struck out both Gorman and Herrera. He caught Gorman swinging and Herrera looking and also generated several additional swings-and-misses from Herrera and Chase Davis.
Despite being on the mound, the Cardinals have opted to be cautious and deliberate with his Dobbins' fielding work, choosing to have him work his way back up in a controlled environment.
St. Louis will have Dobbins ramp up his fielding work slower than the other pitchers, according to Goold's report.
"Just trying to fill up the strike zone as much as I can," Dobbins said in Goold's story. "And then finding that rhythm that way, so when I do face another team … I have my rhythm, and now it's just executing pitches."
Hunter Dobbins, 2Ks in the 2nd. pic.twitter.com/Bv0wXfuxil
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 6, 2025
Dobbins was originally picked by the Red Sox in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Texas Tech.
In addition to the question marks of Dobbins' availability, he also is relatively inexperienced. He has only 61 innings of major league work, which all came last season. He posted a 4.13 ERA and struck out 45 batters across 13 appearances (11 starts).
Currently, FanGraphs projects St. Louis to open the regular season with a starting rotation of: Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy and Kyle Leahy.
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