The St. Louis Cardinals are casting a wide net for pitching talent as they build toward the future, even though the team is not expected to contend for a playoff spot in 2026.
Through offseason trades, St. Louis has added several intriguing arms, including Hunter Dobbins, Brandon Clarke, and Yhoiker Fajardo. At the same time, the organization is also making lower-risk bets on pitchers with limited prospect value. On Tuesday, news surfaced that the Cardinals added another such arm—a 25-year-old right-hander who has yet to make his professional debut.
Tread Athletics, a well-known pitching development and training facility, reported that the Cardinals signed free-agent pitcher Robbie Knowles to a minor league deal.
Knowles’ journey to Division I college baseball, let alone the professional ranks, has not been linear. He graduated high school in 2018, but didn’t throw a D1 pitch until 2025, with two other college stops and Tommy John surgery along the way.
Knowles redshirted at the University of San Diego in 2020, did not appear in a game, then transferred to El Camino College in 2022. He only threw 1 2/3 innings that season before undergoing Tommy John surgery, and his name didn’t resurface at the college ranks for two seasons thereafter.
However, this past spring at the University of Kansas, Knowles made 16 appearances, though it was somewhat trial by fire. He allowed 13 earned runs in 10 2/3 innings and walked 11 batters to 12 strikeouts.
It’s not hard to see what the Cardinals liked about Knowles. At his pro day for Tread, he was ripping off mid-to-high-90s fastballs, not an easy feat off an indoor mound, with extremely impressive peripheral data, including elite induced vertical break and a pretty filthy gyro slider.
Knowles’ father, known as Rob E. Knowles, is an independent country music artist who also happened to play in the Cardinals’ minor-league system. His uncle, Bryan Addison, played in the NFL.
