5 Cardinals who need to finish strong for Chaim Bloom to keep them around

Pedro Pagés

Pagés has been a true MVP for the Cardinals in 2025. He came into this season as the backup to Ivan Herrera, who would finally take over as the team's everyday catcher. And then Herrera dealt with injuries and had to be moved to the club's everyday designated hitter.

Herrera hopes to return to everyday catcher duties. And top prospect Jimmy Crooks has made a splash in his debut with the Cardinals this summer. Where will they leave Pagés? If Marmol has his way, Pagés will remain with the club.

But will Bloom opt for young talent with high expectations?

Andre Pallante

Pallante earned his spot in the starting rotation this summer but is stumbling and bumbling toward the finish line to close out his season. He has put in more work than in previous seasons, and he is taking the opportunity to learn what to do moving forward.

Pallante started in a career-high 30 games this season going 6-15 on the season. He pitched a career-high 160 innings. His previous high was 121.1 innings in 2024. That's quite a jump and a genuine learning opportunity for the youngster. He has 107 strikeouts this season with a 5.29 ERA.

Pallante had a young defense behind him for the majority of the season and never received much run support.

Pallante will likely take the things he learned this season and grow from them. Bloom may find that Pallante has a lot of potential and allow him to continue growing with the Cardinals. If not, would he become a candidate to flip for more talent?