Cardinals DFA Lefty Nick Raquet Despite Strong 2024 Minor League Numbers

Nick Raquet, 29, posted a 0.77 ERA at Double-A Springfield last season and became the first Cardinals minor league pitcher with 10 relief wins since 2016. On Sunday, St. Louis designated him for assignment after just two appearances to open the year, removing him from the 40-man roster.

Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reported the move. Raquet had made just two relief appearances for Triple-A Memphis when the Cardinals pulled him from the 40-man, unable to secure a spot on St. Louis' Opening Day roster. He is expected to clear waivers unclaimed and remain with the Redbirds.

The decision arrives with a clear sense of irony. Combining Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis in 2025, Raquet finished 10-4 with a 2.24 ERA, adding 8 saves and 4 holds across 39 appearances, making him the first Cardinals minor league pitcher with 10 relief wins since Tyler Bray went 10-0 across Palm Beach, Springfield, and Memphis in 2016. At Springfield specifically, he was 8-1 with a 0.77 ERA in 25 games, striking out 38 over 35 innings while holding opposing left-handed hitters to a single extra-base hit in 87 plate appearances.

None of it carved out a bullpen role in St. Louis.

The backdrop makes the move particularly striking. Raquet, born December 12, 1995, in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, was a third-round pick (103rd overall) by the Washington Nationals in the 2017 MLB Draft out of the College of William & Mary. He spent three seasons in Washington's system without advancing past Single-A. When the 2020 minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he walked away from the game entirely, returning to William & Mary to finish his finance degree before landing a position as an enterprise risk consultant at Ernst & Young in Washington, D.C. He has described the career pivot as "a quarter-life crisis thing at like 24, 25 years old."

He sat out both 2021 and 2022 completely. In 2023, four years removed from his last professional pitch, Raquet attempted a comeback with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League, going 13-7 with a 3.71 ERA across 24 starts. That performance earned him a Cardinals minor league contract, signed January 16, 2024.

His first Cardinals season revealed a familiar organizational split: a 0.56 ERA at Double-A Springfield across eight appearances, then a 5.80 ERA at Memphis in 27 outings. The Cardinals released him September 26, 2024. He re-signed on January 15, 2025.

The second act proved far more convincing on paper. Raquet made his MLB debut on September 8, 2025, tossing a scoreless inning in a Cardinals loss to the Seattle Mariners, becoming the 23,600th player in major league history at age 29 years and 270 days. He is also the 409th former Northwoods League player to reach the majors and the 37th to debut in 2025, a single-season record for the league. His September call-up required the Cardinals to DFA infielder Garrett Hampson and option right-hander Andre Granillo to Memphis.

Sunday's DFA closes an improbable chapter, at least temporarily. If Raquet clears waivers unclaimed, he returns to Memphis, where over the better part of a year he has been among the most effective relievers in the organization.