Memphis Redbirds Reach 10 Wins First, Top Charlotte 4-1

Richard Fitts, the 26-year-old right-hander St. Louis received from Boston in the Sonny Gray trade, logged five innings of one-run ball at Truist Field on Wednesday, carrying the Memphis Redbirds to a 4-1 victory over the Charlotte Knights and making them professional baseball's first team to double-digit wins in 2026.

The 10-win mark is easy to shrug off in a 150-game season. The mechanics underneath it are not.

Fitts (2-0) held Charlotte to four hits and one earned run while issuing two walks and striking out three, finishing five innings without overextending the bullpen. That specific output, a starter clearing five innings, limiting contact through multiple trips through an opposing order, and leaving with a workable lead, is exactly what Cardinals front office personnel need to see from him. St. Louis sent Fitts to Memphis in March after he lost a rotation competition that finalized around Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, Kyle Leahy, Andre Pallante, and Michael McGreevy. That group carries real risk. Cooper Hjerpe and Tekoah Roby are both working through Tommy John recoveries and unavailable for 2026. Pallante, who posted a 5.31 ERA last year, is on a short leash at the back end. When the Cardinals need a starter mid-season, Fitts is the most prepared arm available.

Which makes each of his outings at Memphis less a Triple-A box score entry and more a recurring MLB readiness evaluation. Wednesday's five-inning stint passed the baseline test cleanly.

Max Rajcic extended the night with 2.2 scoreless innings in the middle, and Luis Gastelum closed out the ninth for his first Triple-A save. The three-pitcher structure held Charlotte to a single run and preserved Memphis' bullpen for the days ahead, the kind of workload distribution that separates sustainable pitching units from ones that burn out by June.

The offense built the margin early and efficiently. Leadoff center fielder Bryan Torres set the table by walking twice and going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, reaching base in four of his five plate appearances. Shortstop Brody Moore went 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored twice. Colton Ledbetter's second-inning triple, the first three-bagger in the Redbirds' season, helped crack the game open with room to spare, and catcher Jimmy Crooks added to a multiple-hit effort that generated four runs without requiring a single crooked number.

Memphis returns to AutoZone Park on April 14 to open a six-game homestand against the Gwinnett Stripers. Whether Fitts can replicate Wednesday's efficiency against Atlanta's Triple-A pipeline, and whether Torres and Moore sustain their on-base production across a longer sample, will tell a more complete story about what this Redbirds club actually is.

For now, the number is 10, and no other professional baseball team has reached it. The Cardinals may need the arm that helped get there sooner than anyone would prefer.