By Rob Rains
As the Cardinals look ahead to determine who can be in their starting rotation next year, Tekoah Roby’s performance in the Arizona Fall League was his way of sending a message to the front office.
“Don’t forget about me.”
Because he missed the second half of the 2025 season and all of this year following Tommy John surgery, Roby knew there were questions about when, and how, he would pitch when he got back on the mound.
Roby had his own questions too.
“To be completely honest, I was just like, ‘Can I still get hitters out in a game environment?’” Roby said in a telephone conversation after returning to his home in Pensacola, Fla. “It felt like it had been a very long time.”
Roby wanted to know, “Can I still throw strike one with a breaking ball? Can I still get ahead and put hitters away?’ During the rehab process I really worked on those things in the bullpens.”
Roby checked those boxes in large, bold type.
In his pre-planned three starts in Arizona, Roby worked a total of 9 2/3 innings – and put up some impressive numbers. He faced 36 hitters and only allowed six hits, all singles. He only walked one batter, in the first inning of his first game, on a 3-2 pitch. He struck out 13 of those 36 hitters. He also did not allow a run.
Of the 140 pitches Roby threw in those games, 96 were strikes.
One area where a pitcher often struggles in his return from an elbow surgery is with his control, but that wasn’t a problem for Roby.
“I was very pleased with the results, and also my own evaluations,” he said. “Ultimately, it was better than I expected. The goal was to finish out the game progression and go into the off-season feeling good about that.
“That’s what this was about, pitching against hitters with a pitch clock rolling and guys on base. I was really happy I got to pitch with some traffic.”
Rob Cerfolio, the Cardinals’ assistant general manager in charge of player development and performance, was also pleased with how Roby pitched in the Fall League.
“The nice thing about the Fall League is it’s just like any other games in season in terms of all of the info you can get, basically the same as a game at an affiliate in July; the normal battery of assessments that we always do,” Cerfolio said. “Most importantly it was fun just to see him out there competing and pitching with confidence following a long rehab progression.
“TK is a fantastic worker and has a ton or pride and attention to detail. Between him and our rehab group and our pitching group, all parties were excited that he was able to compete and prove to himself that he was healthy. What he showed in those outings was pretty exciting.”
Despite the long layoff, Roby said he wasn’t worried about how his surgically repaired right elbow would respond to the stress of pitching again.
“I thought everything was in a great spot,” Roby said. “That’s an uncontrollable element that we can’t really know for sure; but if you do things the way the doctors prescribed with your throwing program, that gets you into a positive frame of mind going back into a competitive environment that, ‘I’ve done everything I can, there’s nothing to be afraid of and I have no doubts.’”
Unfortunately for Roby, this is not the first time he has had to come back from an injury. He only pitched a combined 96 2/3 innings between the 2023 and 2024 seasons because of various setbacks.
In 2025, Roby thought he had put that problem in the past, making 16 starts for Double A Springfield and Triple A Memphis in the first half of the season before he was hurt again, and this time learned he needed surgery.
“That was a tough pill to swallow initially,” he said. “I didn’t expect that to happen. It just shows how much of this is out of our control. I think the outlook now is that we’ve got this behind us and I can have some piece of mind knowing Dr. Meister did a really good job and I can hopefully get back on track.”
That should include competing for a spot in the Cardinals’ rotation next season, whenever that season begins.
With the all-but-certain lockout expected to begin on Dec. 2, Roby is entering another period of not knowing when he will be able to pitch again.
A case could be made that the lockout is coming at perhaps the worse possibly time for Roby, who won’t be able to pitch until the labor dispute is settled because he is on the 40-man roster.
“No matter how you spin it there is going to be a guy who feels like, ‘I’m the unlucky guy,’” Roby said. “It just requires a lot of patience and trust in the Lord. It’s really out of my control. We just have to do things the right way and hopefully it works out.”
Roby, who turned 25 in September, does have something to look forward to – he is getting married in December.
He said he will be able to have a normal off-season of workouts and will be on a throwing program while waiting for the owners and player’s union to come to an agreement.
Depending on what othe moves the Cardinals make before spring training eventually begins, Roby could be one of at least eight or nine pitchers in the mix for a spot in the rotation.
“I haven’t really talked to anybody about next year,” he said. “I think the team is a little unsure so it’s kind of foolish to talk about it. I just hope they come to an agreement so I can get back out there.
“I think they (the Cardinals) are excited I’m healthy and I’m excited I’m healthy.”
Cerfolio agreed.
“One thing that doesn’t get talked enough about with TK is his strike-throwing ability,” Cerfolio said. “Over his career he’s been below a six percect walk guy. Usually with guys coming back, that (control) is one of the things that comes back the latest but he (Roby) kind of picked up right where he left off in 2025. That really just speaks to TK and how he prepares and how he worked his tail off during the whole recovery process in Florida this past year.
“We’re really fired up to have him back in the mix. When he’s healthy and pitching at his best we don’t have many guys that are better than that … just really happy for him.”
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