51ºÚÁÏ

Svanson shared what he read on social media and asked his roommate if Toronto might make a trade.

That was when his phone rang.

“At that point, I was still no prospect all,� Svanson said. “It caught me off guard. Everyone thought I was joking with them.�

The call came from the Blue Jays’ front office and notified the right-hander that he had been traded to the Cardinals for shortstop Paul DeJong. It was a small, early move at a trade deadline that saw the Cardinals sell for the first time in a generation and strip-mine the roster for deals that got a lot more attention than DeJong, a former All-Star, to Toronto for a Class AA pitcher who had yet to throw an inning in Class AA.

Two years later, almost to the date, Svanson found himself on the mound at Petco Park in a pivotal moment Friday night against Manny Machado with the bases loaded in the Cardinals’ game against the Padres. Svanson was the first reliever into what’s will become an audition for late innings after the club’s latest sell off at the deadline.

The Cardinals traded three veteran relievers in less than 24 hours this past week, and by moving closer Ryan Helsley to the Mets, setup right-hander Phil Maton to the Rangers, and lefty Steven Matz to the Red Sox, the Cardinals opened up three roles in the bullpen and who handles the final two innings of any game. The Cardinals promoted right-handed relievers Andre Granillo, Ryan Fernandez, and Roddery Munoz to the majors on Friday. Along with already present relievers, like Svanson, manager Oliver Marmol plans to sort through assignments to see which relievers seize a role and can run with it through the remaining two months – and into next season.

“I’m excited about it,� Marmol said.

It did not take long for the manager to have a game that offered him reason to start.

In their 4-1 loss at Petco, the Cardinals’ mustered four hits overall and only one against Padres starter Nick Pivetta in his seven innings. Yet, the Cardinals had a lead thanks to Willson Contreras’ solo homer going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Two throwing errors by Nolan Gorman and Willson Contreras vaporized that lead by allowing the tying run to score. The go-ahead runner got into scoring position, and six batters into the fifth inning starter Matthew Liberatore had misplaced the lead and loaded the bases.

The Cardinals recently gave Liberatore two weeks off to manage his workload for the inning, and they’ll continue to be cautious with the lefty through the remainder of the season. That is why in the middle of the fifth he was reliever. Liberatore had thrown 31 pitches, and the Cardinals have a soft cap of 30 for the lefty due to the stress long innings can cause.

With Machado due up, Liberatore was out and Svanson was in.

“That was tough,â€� Liberatore said before referencing the exchange of hit batters that marked the Padres’ visit to Busch Stadium this past month. “Especially after what happened between us and Machado last time out in 51ºÚÁÏ. That was definitely the guy in that moment that I wanted to face. Tough to come out right there. I understand it. I threw a lot of pitches in that inning. Big situation. Probably showing him a different look a third time through is the right move.â€�

The Cardinals followed Liberatore with three relievers. Svanson was the first right-hander in with three runners on base. Gordon Graceffo, another candidate for some save opportunities, followed with a scoreless inning, and newly promoted Ryan Fernandez, who spent last season as a setup reliever, pitched the eighth for the Cardinals. The Cardinals’ trio of relievers pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings. They allowed three hits and struck out three. Two of those strikes were from Svanson.

One was of Machado with the bases loaded.

Svanson opened the at-bat with a sweeping slider.

Machado checked his swing and missed a strike.

“We knew he was going to be aggressive, especially with guys on,� Svanson said. “Wanted to go off-speed and then obviously getting that check swing was huge. It opened up everything. He had to respect the slider and fastball. Just put some good location on it.�

Svanson followed the breaking ball with a 96.1-mph sinker that Machado took for a strike. An 0-2 attempt to get the All-Star chasing after another sweeper didn’t work. Machado took it for a ball. No active player has more grand slams than Machado’s 13, and he entered Friday’s game batting .529 (18 for 38) in his previous eight games. With the 1-2 pitch, Svanson went back to the heat but didn’t skimp on it to wedge the fastest pitch of the at-bat in on Machado.

He swung late and over the 98.5-mph sinker.

“That was impressive for a lot of reasons,� Marmol said. “That environment’s real. For him to come into that against that hitter and to read the at-bat enough to do that – it was very impressive. I liked it. I really did. One of those moments where he’s going to learn from it. I like his overall mentality of how he came in there.�

In their trades that sent out three veteran relievers, the Cardinals acquired six minor-league players, four of them pitchers. And three of the pitchers were at a similar spot in their career as Svanson. He had been promoted from Class A just before the trade, and three of the pitchers acquired this week – lefty Mason Molina and right-handers Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt – are in Class A. Svanson had to convince his teammates that he had been traded, and some didn’t believe him, he said, until he packed his stuff at the ballpark and they saw the trade crawl across the screen on ESPN.

Since there wasn’t a flight until 6 a.m. the next morning, he remained in Binghampton that night, watching the game in street clothes from a spot near his former teammates, right out there by the bullpen. The next day he took three flights to reach Springfield, Missouri, and immediately joined the Cardinals’ Class AA club’s bullpen.

This season, he’s made his most significant strides – tapping into more consistent velocity and executing pitches more consistently at that higher speed.

“I think the adrenaline up here helps a lot,� he said late Friday night in the Cardinals’ clubhouse. “There’s a reason I’m a tick or two up from down in Triple-A. Definitely knowing you can’t take pitches off or you’re going to get punished.�

Immediately after striking out Machado, he got that reminder.

With the bases still loaded and one more out to get, Svanson fell behind Jackson Merrill. Moreover, he gave Merrill a look at three different pitches as he did so. Svanson will try to keep a pitch in his pocket to show a batter for the first time late in an at-bat. Against Merrill, Svanson missed with his cutter and his sweeper to fall behind 0-2. Svanson turned to his sinker for a strike, and Merrill fouled it off. When Svanson tried to play that swing against his cutter, Merrill connected for a liner to center and a two-run single. Those inherited runners scoring completed the Padres’ four-run inning and set the final score.

Svanson finished the inning two pitches later on a sweeper.

His lessons in tight-binds relief are just starting.

“Definitely love getting in there in higher leverage situations,� Svanson said. “Keeping taking the positives and rolling it into the next outings. Make sure I keep my same approach – attack, attack, attack over and over again. (These are) learning opportunities.�