ST. LOUIS -- The last time we saw Cardinals RHP Hunter Dobbins, he made his team debut in Pittsburgh as the starter on the other side of the Paul Skenes game.
Dobbins showed well in that start up until his command evaded him in the latter stages, but his subsequent shuffle back to Memphis had little to do with the quality of his performance -- he fell victim to the numbers game.
Sunday at Busch Stadium, Dobbins returned to the Cardinals roster in lieu of RHP Matt Pushard, who was designated for assignment following a tenuous relief outing to close out Saturday's game.
Since arriving in the off-season via trade with the Red Sox, Dobbins has been billed the whole way through as a starter, ostensibly the next man up if a need in the St. Louis rotation should come calling. Sunday, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol stated that he'll be available out of the bullpen for the series finale against the rival Cubs.
"I think, depending on how the game goes today, he can pitch a bulk part of it," Marmol said. "But we'll read the game and use him as needed.
"When you look at some of the possibilities today, based on how we used the 'pen in the first game of the series and yesterday, having someone with length made sense."
So whether Dobbins sees the mound in Sunday's game will be determined by the way the contest plays out with Matthew Liberatore getting the start against Cubs lefty Jordan Wicks.
If a scenario where a bulk reliever would provide utility to Marmol's game management process, we will likely see Dobbins enter -- ideally, in a clean inning -- to cover multiples.
But the Cardinals don't anticipate Dobbins' potential involvement in Sunday's game as a marker for any sort of shift toward a bullpen role in the coming weeks.
"We have a really good plan over the next several weeks of some of the possibilities," Marmol said. "This will not alter him being a starter."
The next part is speculative since the club didn't elaborate on the plan for Dobbins' role after Sunday, but one concept Marmol could be hinting at is the potential for the Cardinals to, if the situation presents, use Dobbins to shuffle the rotation in a way that could buy an extra day of rest for the existing five-man group of starting pitchers.
The club was intentional in strategically deploying this approach in 2025, with Steven Matz and Michael McGreevy at times parachuting into the rotation to keep the rest of the group rested.
As for details on how things could shake out this time around as it pertains to Dobbins, Marmol had little interest in divulging any of the permutations under consideration for his exact role beyond Sunday.
"He'll be in the 'pen today," Marmol said, successfully swatting away any additional probes.