Cardinals announce they have acquired left-handed reliever Bailey Horn Waived off waivers to the Tigers. Detroit designated him for assignment last week. The Cardinals already have multiple open 40-man spots, so there’s no need to move accordingly.
Horn, 26, has now ridden the waiver carousel from Boston to Detroit to St. Louis in just over a month. In 2024, he made his major league debut with the Red Sox, pitching 18 innings, allowing 13 runs, 22 hits, 10 at-bats, and 13 strikeouts. The resulting 6.50 ERA is nothing, but Horn was a 2020 fifth-round pick (White Sox) who had some success in the minor leagues as a senior and was involved in a noteworthy TRADE — When the Red Sox sent him across town to the Cubs in 2021 Ryan Tepera.
The Red Sox acquired him in April after another DFA last year, and he pitched 29 1/3 innings in Triple-A last year with a negligible 2.15 ERA and a 29.2% strikeout rate. Horn’s 11.7% walk rate is far too high, but those rate statistics are generally representative of his performance over the course of his minor league career. In four minor league seasons, he struck out 29 percent of the batters he faced, but also walked nearly 13 percent of the batters he faced.
Horn has two minor league option years remaining, making him a flexible bullpen piece for the Cardinals in the short or long term. He’s hitting just under 95 mph on the heater and missing bats at a high enough level to provide some intrigue for a Cards organization with less bullpen certainty (especially if the closer ) Ryan Helsley Trade before the market opens or before the summer trading deadline).
One thing St. Louis does have a fair amount of, however, is left-handed relief depth. Horn will join the mix, which includes JoJo Romero, John King, Matthew Libertore and Zach Thompson. They’re not proven in the majors, but are still a solid combination for lefties. Romero’s control only lasts until 2026, so if things go poorly for the Cards in the first half of the season, he could be in line for a summer trade chip himself, which could open the door to further opportunities for the newly acquired Horn.
