The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen has basically become a revolving door with Jared Shuster's name taped to it. On July 8, the club designated the lefty for assignment yet again, a move that came barely 24 hours after he'd been added back to the roster in the first place.
To understand how fast this all moved, rewind to that Tuesday. The Cardinals designated Bruce Zimmermann for assignment to clear a spot, then selected Shuster's contract to give themselves an extra arm for a doubleheader nightcap. It was roster math, plain and simple: one warm body out, one warm body in, repeat as needed.
That same stretch also had the Cardinals reportedly planning to select Luis Gastelum's contract, another sign of just how much shuffling St. Louis has been doing to keep its pitching staff stocked through the summer grind. Between Zimmermann, Shuster and Gastelum, the Cardinals have run through arms at a pace that suggests a bullpen held together with duct tape and fax machine transactions.
None of this is really new for Shuster, a former first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves back in 2020 who debuted with Atlanta in 2023 before getting flipped to the Chicago White Sox in the Aaron Bummer trade ahead of 2024. He signed a minor league deal with St. Louis this past offseason, and 2026 has turned into a loop: get added to the active roster, make a few appearances, get DFA'd, clear waivers, land back in Memphis, repeat. This is reportedly the third time this season he's been through that exact cycle.
The reason he keeps coming back is that Shuster is out of minor league options, which technically forces the Cardinals to make a roster decision every time they want to option him down instead of just quietly sending him to Triple-A. So instead of a clean demotion, St. Louis has to DFA him, hope he clears waivers again, and hope no other team decides they need a lefty arm badly enough to claim him. It's worked twice already. Whether it works a third time is the only real drama left in this story.
It's a small transaction in the grand scheme of a 162-game season, but it's a pretty good window into what life looks like for a fringe big leaguer trying to hang on. Shuster's stuff is apparently good enough to keep getting emergency call-ups, but not good enough to earn a roster spot that actually sticks. Keep an eye on the waiver wire the next few days to see if this loop finally breaks.