St. Louis Cardinals left-handed pitcher just can’t seem to catch a break.
The experienced reliever hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2023 because of multiple elbow injuries. Although he returned this spring looking sharp and regained his form during Spring Training, he didn’t make the team’s Opening Day roster. He made seven Spring Training appearances, posting an impressive 1.29 ERA over seven innings.
Naughton began the season with Triple-A Memphis, but unfortunately suffered another elbow injury earlier this week.
According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Naughton has ligament damage in his elbow. The team has not yet decided on a treatment plan, and he is expected to consult a specialist to determine the next steps.
“Packy Naughton has ligament damage in his elbow, per the Cardinals,” Goold wrote. “He will see a specialist to determine potential treatments. Just brutal news given all he’s done to make a comeback and then to crash into this setback.”
The Cardinals got some bad news
Naughton has pitched in 37 games throughout his big league career to this point and it doesn’t sound like that number is going to change in the near future. Throughout a big league season, you’re going to hear about a lot of injuries in the big leagues as well as down in the minors for an organization. It’s an unfortunate part about professional sports. Naughton just hasn’t been able to catch a break over the last few years. When healthy, he’s been able to have some success in the majors and became a fan favorite among Cardinals fans in the process.
As of writing, the Cardinals haven’t announced an exact timeline for Naughton’s return. We won’t find out until he’s able to see the specialist and chart a path forward. John Denton of Roundtable Sports shared on X that the current expectation is that the Cardinals will have a diagnosis for Naughton in the next 24 to 48 hours.
St. Louis’ bullpen has been a weakness for the club so far in 2026. St. Louis entered play on Saturday ranked 24th in the league in bullpen ERA at 5.02. Naughton is someone who could’ve helped the club out, but it sounds like it’s going to be a while before that can be the case. As more information is provided, it will be shared here. We should hear more over the next few days. Hopefully, he has avoided the worst-case scenario.
