ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A Washington University graduate is set to live his dream of pitching in the majors as the St. Louis Cardinals have officially purchased the contract of reliever Ryan Loutos.
To make room for Loutos on both the 26-man rosters and 40-man roster, the Cardinals optioned Chris Roycroft to make room for Loutos on the Major League roster, while 1B Alfonso Rivas was designated for assignment.
Loutos joined the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2021 and in 121 career games in the minors, Loutos has posted a career 5.04 ERA and 10.3 K/9 in his four seasons in the minors. This season in Triple-A Memphis, Loutos has posted solid numbers for the Redbirds, posting a 1.72 ERA and 27.3% strikeout percentage across 15 2/3 innings this season.
Loutos has local ties to the St. Louis-area, playing four years of college baseball for Division III- Washington University, pitching a 1.28 ERA across 38 career games, with 36 of them being starts in college.
Loutos had a unique career. While he ended up signed with the Cardinals as a player, he originally received interest from the Cardinals as a front-office candidate due his background as computer science major who had previous experience working with the Cardinals' analytics department, according to Geoff Pontes of Baseball America.
